Amerman, Kenneth E., 1964, 1966

Amerman, Kenneth E

1964

Smithsonian Institution Archives

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Ornithology Ornithologists Sea birds Pacific Ocean Biological Survey Program

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Sand - Johnston - 1964 Jan. 1 left Friendship Airport 4pm via TWA 61. Arrived Los Angeles 5 35- PM. Departed for Honolulu 6 30 pm via United 95, arrived 9 35 pm. Jan 2 Checked out of Hawaiian King early in the morning and deposited gear on YAG 40. Went on board 7 30 pm. Jan 3 Underway on YAG 40 9 30 am. Jan 19 Returned to Pearl Harbor 9 30 a.m. No field notes for YAG trip. New birds - Harcourts Storm Petrel, Pomarine Jaeger, White - necked petrel. Boobies (red 'feet') and Red-Tailed Tropic-birds most common. Tadrig flocks of 20-100 Boobies last 2 days out - surprising. Total no. of birds - ~ 500, 22 collected. Very few boobies seen on beginning of trip, a somewhat greater no. of Wedgetails throughout. Only ~ 3 frigates seen. Fairy terns ~ 3 days out of Oahu - mixed with Booby flocks on return trip. Albatross disappeared morning of third day, reappeared 3 (3) days out on return. Jaegers lost after 2nd day. Jan 24 Departed Hickam AFB, Honolulu, via MATS 623X to Johnston Is. 12 15 pm, arrived on Johnston 3 35 pm.

Amerman Send: Johnston 1964 Jan 24 C.G. boat was already there, also Dave Bratley on weekly Johnston Survey. He reported seeing a gull, an immature Western Bull probably, near one of the pads east of the runway and south of the weather lease. Dave filled me in on current studies here. Sooties are up to about 50,000; When they begin dreaming in about 4 pm after all- day absence from ~2am. Frigates resting, one brown dooby. [illegible] common nolly egg. red-tailed tropic bird eggs. Extremely high mortality among frigate eggs. 200 sooties landed. Jan 25 We went to Johnston I. in the afternoon to try to shoot the gull but could not get within range. Another attempt was made to capture it, perhaps while sleeping, at night but this was also unsuccessful. One white-tailed tropic bird was seen on Johnston. Jan 26 Took the day off for the cookout. [illegible] [illegible] were

Sand Johnston 1964 observed on the small island by the old dock, were one frigate colony. June 27 We went over to Johnston I. to straighten out getting permission for shooting over there. Cmdr. Cork and Lt. Cmdr. Bauer and Mr. Kaliche (J.T.F. 8-3) recommend that some permanent notification be sent from S.I. to J.T.F. 9-6 or Johnston or to JTF8 in Washington advising them of our needs and purposes. Gull was still present. I saw spot on east shore. Four tropic birds seen flying over the lagoon on the way to Johnston. Four also seen over Johnston - may have been different group. Jan 29 Another attempt was made to shoot the gull. It was not at its usual place on the shore and was not seen by us until it suddenly flew up in front of us. Three shots were taken at it on the water, the closest at about 60 yards. This shot looked

K. Amerman Sand Johnston 1964 as though it hit and perhaps even wounded the bird as it appeared to be unable to rise off the water. Unfortunately it drifted far out and out of sight. It possibly was dighted again drifting in toward shore but we did not have the binoculars (due to security regulations) and this object suddenly disappeared from sight. The bird is probably lost unless it drifts in to shore wounded. Seven red-tailed Tropic birds and Seven fairy terns were seen flying over J.I. One grayback tern was observed with an egg on the light platform between Sand J.I. No nest. 1800-200 boobies present 7:30 pm (lush). Also ~10 gray-back terns, 2-3 common noddies, 6-8 Hawaiian noddies. Jan 29 In another check for the gull the bird was spotted 200 yards off the south point in the water. It was swimming out. Another attempt to obtain it will be made.

1957 F. Johnstone Jan 22 The grey-backed tern had moved its egg to the west side of the platform. The red-tailed tropic bird is in very poor condition. Both eyes are coulded over and it is very weak. Four RTT, three FT seen on J.I. Night banding of boobies yielded only 175 birds. Moon was up at 8:30, greatly hampering our work thereafter. No birds were observed on road or on north side of Transmitter building, though there were many there Jan 24. Birds also seemed to begin sitting down in large groups only about the time the moon appeared. Prior to that there were many birds down but they were reluctant to sit again when disturbed. After the moon was up they would drop down soon after we left an area. 2200 ± 200 boobies present 11 p.m. Jan 30 Lt. Nye informed us that HYN will begin installing evaporators in the pump house in about two weeks. We must

Annaman 1764 Fund limitation move our gear out. The camp space limitations make it possible to store only two trunks, again limiting at the expansion of the project beyond originally stated dimensions of "two people four times a year". We cannot use roof of knitter or original building for observations. Freezer would be welcomed - 1/2 size normal freezer, could be placed in pump house. Personnel - Hayes prefers two, 14th District just refused Union quarters here due to this limitation (prob. on Hayes recommendation) Banded 225 Bootes 8-9:30 p.m. 2100 ±100 boobies present 10 p.m. Tropic bird still on egg. Dave found what appeared to be a fresh Boot egg, perhaps moldy. Jan 31 Three R.T. Tropicbirds over Sand. Gray-back Tern or rouge light was absent 6 p.m., egg not apparent. Checked Boot egg in NM, found it broken. Made another attempt to capture gull on Johnston at night. Spotted it along east shore but it scam away very rapidly. Waited around and some fishermen showed up with lights and fees. Bird did not

Sand Dune come back in before dark. Anglers still at it at 7:30 as we gave up. Only Temporarily however - M. boat run scheduled for 11:30 went instead at 10:30, leaving us stranded. C6 could not pick us up until 12:45 as we carried back, to find the fishermen still there. With sinking hopes we headed for the farthest point away on the east shore in that area and so and behold hit the exact point where the bird was sitting. A slight motion on the shore moved me to immediate action and I hit the water only a few feet behind the creature. A rather unwelcome moonlight swim and of course to no avail. Well, at least we know the thing can't fly. Feb 1 Discovered two grey-back tern eggs, one attended, and one possible rusty egg on end of old dock. All other eggs still present (except for figate horses or redditors). A second molly appears to be preparing to lay on the east shore between the pair toes and brown boobies.

Foreman 1964 Sand-Johnson Feb 1 Banded 400 Bottic’s 8:30 - 11:30. The birds are sitting down on the road and to the west of the transmitter building again. They had not done this since Jan 24. Many more are roosting now, all over the island, and tonight they extended 1/2-way down the road from the trans. building. Also, they are now sitting down as soon as it gets dark rather than waiting for the moon, which is an advantage for no. 3-4 Dave found one foot with feathers growing out of [illegible] Feb 2 Banded 500 Bottic’s 9:30 - 11:30 pm. First definite Footy egg turned up in Dave's collection bag. From coloration, one on rock and one found on north slope are also Footy. Tropic bird or egg is either well again or a different bird. It has no tail feathers but is white, not suffused with the delicate pink, and seems to have a different voice.

Location Sand I, Johnston Is. Ntl., Pacific O. Observer Amerman & Bradley Date 1 Feb. 54 Time to Weather Abundance Breeding SPECIES 1-10 10-100 100-1000 1000+ Nests Eggs Young Remarks Laysan Albatross Black-footed Albatross Wedge-tailed Shearwater Christmas I. Shearwater Audubon's Shearwater Bonin I. Petrel Phoenix I. Petrel Buiwer's Petrel Sooty Petrel Red-tailed Tropicbird 1 1 7 mar. on J.I. 28 Jan. White-tailed Tropicbird 1 J.I. - 25 Jan. Masked Booby 5 Brown Booby 1 2 3 40-50 Red-footed Booby 1800-2200 on J.I. nights Great Frigatebird 1 1 ~300; 115 eggs total to date, remain Golden Plover ~50 on Sand, ~75 on J.I. mtt Ruddy Turnstone ~40-50 on Sand, ~50 on J.I. mtt Wandering Tattler 3 Sanderling Bristle-thighed Curlew Sooty Tern 1? 50,000? Gray-backed Tern ~40 Brown-winged Tern Common Noddy 1 1 mtt ~400 Hawaiian Noddy ~8 Blue-gray Noddy Fairy Tern 7 mar. on J.I. 28 Jan.

Amerman 1964 Tand - Johnston Feb 3 Banded 600 Booties 8:30 - 12:30. None begin to sit down on road and right in front of transmitter until after 9, perhaps 9.30. Dave said one which he banded laid an egg nearly after being released. Two Christmas Island Shearwaters turned up on the slope. One had a band, apparently Ashmole's (544-10583). Also banded 6 Common Noddies and 4 Hawaiian (3 ad., 1 imm.) Grey-back Tam on range light definitely gone. Two frigate may have chased it off and destroyed the egg. A third grey-back was present on the end of the old dock, with an egg. The single Booty egg was still (again) unattended. No Grey-backs were seen on the point while banding. About 50 were out on the dock at 1 am. Feb 4 Sudden change in Grey-back behavior. Those on the dock last night remained at least through 11 pm, some perhaps all day, calling a good deal of the

Reneman 1964 Sand-Detructa time. No new eggs yet, however. Tropic birds also seem to be getting ready to breed. Two were found in the bunker on the east shore at 2 p.m. and banded and tagged; one remained inside after handling. Also, the crew reported one under the last fuel tank on the left in the same spot where one nested last year. A third brown booby seems about to lay. A second common nolty on the small island also may be preparing. A red-footed booby appears to be constructing a nest on some of the rubble leading out to the guy wire on the SE shore, about 2 feet off the ground and right at the water's edge. Five 10'x10' plots were laid out in anticipation of forty ten nesting. Two of them may need to be moved. They perhaps should be set up only after the birds begin nesting but this would present difficulties in mapping them. The plots are as follows: #1 in open area in shearwater - Hawaiian

Amerman 1964 Sand-Johnston noddly nesting area; #2 in open area and Tribulus east of transmitter building; #3 in open ground and Tribulus on the SE slope; #4 - Tribulus, behind transmitter building; #5- open ground, Tribulus? Sequarium? on slope. While laying out the study plots three unattended Sooty eggs were found. 600 Sooties banded 8:30-12:00. One Christmas Island Shearwater on hill near Brown Booties during banding. Feb 5 We made arrangements with the Special Services people (through Sgt. Thomas) to be taken out in a small boat off the shore of Johnston in hopes of picking the gull up in the water. A Mr. Hunt of the Navy picked us up here at 5:30 pm and after some searching we found the gull far out in the vicinity of a platform off the SE corner of Johnston. We could not get near the bird as it was sitting in the reef area and it was low tide. Also many sharks (4-6') in the area -

Ameiman 1964 Sand-Johnston could not identify. Banded 800 Bobbies 8.30 - 1.30; also 10 Common Noddies. 400 birds seem to be my limit. I was having butt troubles on that last hundred.... Dave reported he caught one bird on an egg. He also saw 5 fairy terns fly over during the day. Feb 6 Four Brown Bobbies with eggs now, all on slope (2 new today). ~15 Grey-backs on dock, Rafta and Gunn island 5-9 AM. Banded 600 Scoties in the evening. Feb 7 Weekly survey of Johnston produced the following: Red-tailed Tropic bird - 8 Fairy Tern Golden Plover 80-100 Luddy Turnstone 50 ±10 Wandering Tattler 7 Sanderling 1 Western Gull 1 Franklin's Gull 1

Amerman 1964 Feb 7 Send Johnston The Western Gull was still on the water off the SE corner. The mew accidental was on the beach just south of the weather beacon. Both of us got very good looks at the bird. It, like the Western Gull first seen two weeks ago, appeared to have just arrived. We could approach to within 50 feet and then when it flew it would do so reluctantly, moving only a few yards ahead. It was very small, with proportionally long legs. Legs or bill black. Medium gray above except for white above bill and on sides of head. Clear white below. White tump, 1" black band on edge of tail, wing tips slightly darker than rest of wing? back, thin white trailing edge to wings. We tried to get permission to attempt to shoot the bird after supper. Mr. Kaliste of JTF 5.6 says such permission must await the requested official notification of scope and procedures from

Amwmen 1964 Sand Johnston S.E. We went back in the evening with lights and net hoping to get at least one of the gulls but could find no trace of either. Feb 8 Light to heavy showers much of day, with strong gusts. A second egg appeared in Brown Booby nest 2 (egg#3). The 3 gray-back eggs are still on the dock and. the fourth, which is reddish brown rather than white, may also belong to a gray-back - at least, one was sitting right beside it. 75+ birds on dock 11 A.M. A group of ~25 Common Noddies was present on the gun spit at the same time - first time I have seen noddies present in daytime except for 3 on eggs and 1 or two others. Dave said he saw a G. frigate feeding an irin. Banded 500 Scoties 8:30-12

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A. Newman 1964 Sand. Johnston Feb 9 Took a day off to recuperate. Feb 10 Sooties present around island in numbers for first time in daytime. About 2007 were wheeling around the gun island during the morning (7-10 AM). About 50 landed on the island several times for various periods. They also passed over the antenna field several times. Before this, all the birds left the island by 7-7:30 AM. Many would be seen quite far off all around the island all during the day, in flocks of 20-50 and scattered individuals and groups of 2-6. They have been returning about 3 PM, hovering offshore, gathering into large flocks. About 6 PM they begin to move in closer and some begin to cross the causeway from both sides; most remain fairly far out until just before dusk. The number of nodulios present on the gun island also suddenly jumped to 150+ (at 9 AM). They sit in two groups, one on the deck

Feb 10 rocks by the frigates and boobies, the second and larger on the sandy slope facing Wastland the dock. 110+ grey-back terns present at same time. This also represents sudden- large increase (previous high 75-80). Banded 600 Sooties 8:30-12; also 14 Boobies. Discovered new tropic bird nest in depression near 4' pipe, near slope. One egg, brighter red than that in first nest. The incubating bird had ants all over it; possesses 1/2 deck retriever (for how long...?). At least four ppm Christmas Island. Steamwaters on slope by plywood sheet. At least two banded (514-78009, 10). Two more brown boobies appear to be starting nests on slope. Red- footed booby on rubble by guy-wire also seems to be still trying, bringing vegetation to the precarious site to replace that washed or blown away. Feb 11 Banded new tropic bird on egg (nest #2), plus first tropic bird from first nest,

Amerman 1964 Sand Johnston Feb 11 which had replaced its mate on the egg yesterday. Two Christmas Island Shearwaters on the slope near the plywood, 3 pm. Both were landed but flew off before we could catch them. 250 Common Noddies on gun island, ~15 Grey-back Terns on 4 around clock. 3 pm. Picked up 5 injured Sooties from which we took ectoparasites and measurements. Second egg in nest #3 of Brown Boobies. Banded 600 Sooties, 17 Common Noddies, 1 Ruddy Turnstone. 10.30 - 1. Found 3 new Grey-back eggs among rocks near shore of gun island. At least 5 Christmas Islands now on island; one unbanded, four banded; new recovery tonight: 5/4-78006 Feb 12 Binin arrived on Johnston in the morning, came over to Sand on the 1130 Mr. boat. He will stay here after all. Made egg checks after lunch. Found one more Grey-back egg near the others on the gun island. All four are at the edge of the sand and rocks and their coloration allows them to blend extremely well.

Romerwan 1964 Sand-Darnton Feb 12 The U.S.S. Energy arrived at J.I. at 1 P.M. to pick up fuel, halfway through the grid. We went on board and chatted with the sooney watchers (Gould, King, Ludwigs, Homan, Whitman) for most of the afternoon. Perhaps next month arrange- ments can be made for Tion to get off long enough to come over here. Banded 600 Sooties, 15 Common Noddies, 8 Grey-backs, 15 Red-foots, 3 Masked, 2 Christmas Island & 22 - 1. Feb 13 Second tropic bird nest seems to have been deserted; egg unattended 6 P.M. yesterday and yet to day. Six Grey-back eggs on gun island now. Several noddies there boring and carrying stones— Banded 400 Sooties, 27 C. Noddies, 1 Red-footed Booby (S.U.), 10 Grey-backs & 22 - 12. Both gulls still on J.I., Franklin's still PALM tame, Western (3) flying again but weakly. Other populations on J.I.- RTTB-8, in air WTTB-1

Homeman 1964 Sand Johnston Feb 13 Fairy Tern - 8 Rover - 80+ Turnstone - 60+ Sandpiper - 5 Wandering Tattler - 7 Feb 14 Collected gear for removal to J.I. for storage and for temporary lab in boma locker. No banding for classified seasons. Sooties arriving later and later in afternoon, begin coming in over island noon after their arrival; much threading back & forth across causeway. Roadway is last place occupied by incoming birds. Wildfowl arrival in daylight now after 4.30. Feb 15 Noddies sitting along SE shore in daytime for first time. Bimini said some Grey-backs and Sooties had alighted together on the causeway near the A- antenna. Brown Sooties, Christmas Islands and Noddies all country. New RT Tropic bird nest discovered under old dock. Another bird alighted in a hollow in some grass clumps

Sand: Johnston Feb 15 below (3) the frigate colony. We did not disturb it but it left later and did not return. Five Tropic birds on eggs discovered on Johnston; with 8 hovering at the same time, at least 13 there; probably 3 more nests somewhere. No tagged birds on J.I. Banded 900 Fotte's 9:00 - 12:00. Two new Christmas Islands found on NW slope near pipeo; one recovery, one unbanded. Feb 16 Took the day off and journeyed out on the raft in the afternoon. Halfway to the reef the motor quit for good. We were ignominiously towed in by the picket boat. Saw very few fish to boot, though some nice red snappers were opened. A young male frigate (white head and breast but with inflated pouch) was making passes at every female around. Sitting on one of the stanchions, he would spread his wings, shake his head from side to side, and whistle at any frigate which passed overhead. This would begin when the approaching bird was 50 yards away and at heights of 200'. Many landed, evidently

Location Observer Date 15 7 64 Time to Weather Abundance Breeding 1-10 10-100 100-1000 1000+ Nests Eggs Young SPECIES Laysan Albatross Black-footed Albatross Wedge-tailed Shearwater 13 Courtship behavior; present in day Christmas I. Shearwater Audubon's Shearwater Bonin I. Petrel Phoenix I. Petrel Bulwer's Petrel Sooty Petrel Red-tailed Tropicbird 2 one egg lost; one or two more preparing? White-tailed Tropicbird Masked Booby 7 Brown Booby 40 10 15 Red-footed Booby Great Frigatebird Golden Plover 40 Ruddy Turnstone 30 Wandering Tattler 2 Sanderling Bristle-thighed Curlew Sooty Tern Grey-backed Tern Brown-winged Tern Common Noddy 500 ? Hawaiian Noddy 10 Blue-gray Noddy Fairy Tern 2 Remarks

Reverman 1964 Sand-Distraction Feb 16 intruded by two lotharians. Feb 12 Possessed by some demon, I arose at 6 and went up to the bird end. Estimated 15,000 Soothes roosting, < 5000 in air; for how the number roosting could possibly be 1948 by 5-10,000. By 7^2 all but ~100 nearest the transmitter had left the road. A heavy shower from 6^3 - 7^2 may have put up many birds: The last 50 left the road 7^26; those on the NW side of the building left about the same time. These were the earliest departures. In the large area on the SE side of the building a large group left from alongside it 7^4. Another group went up 7^6 from the rear of the forward mass. Gradual departures from the edges to the center of the flock continued. These birds did not fly out immediately but went N or NW over the island, then wheeled back and repeated this. Many of them landed again. 6007 birds were still on the NE slope only 9^2, and many in the air over them. The somewhat disarrayed Brown Boobies were nipping at many of the more careless ones. This is the first instance of a

Ameican 1964 Sand-Johnston 2/6/17 Large number remaining on the island itself. Perhaps this area, among the Sooths, will represent the first nesting locality. Naturally there are no study plots there! By mid-afternoon this group had been replaced by, or had moved to the N point, 200-300 on the ground and an equal or greater number in the air, wheeling about right on the end of the peninsula. No birds were seen in dense clouds offshore before coming in at night. Single birds and small groups (3-8) came straight in and stayed in the air over the island from 6 PM only. Activity around the island was noticeably lower all day than it has been since I arrived. 600 Sooths banded 9-11 3c. 22 Gray back eggs on islet 8 or dock. Also a few Noble eggs at Bastion Sooth. Feb 15 The preparations for the arrival of 17 people from S.I. and other agencies this morning turned into a fracas when Simon suddenly noted the ETA on yesterday's message - 18 Mar 6:4. The large group of Sooths was

Feb 18 still on the ground, in the air on the point, Binion found at least 25 eggs there. A very small number of Noddies is mixed in with the birds on the ground. Courtship feeding was observed in pairs of Noddies, one bird would grab the tip of another's bill & shake it vigorously; the other would then open its mouth and the first would place its head inside. [Much better than giving Whitman chocolates]. Noddies seem to have spread out from the islet to the rocks along the SE shore and to the S edge of the N point. There they sit in 3 groups, one of which contained many tagged birds today. Perhaps they have been crowded off the islet by the Scotias, who seem to follow them wherever they congregate: first on the islet, then the SE shore, then the N point. Many Noddies now sit on the concrete abutments. The same number seems to be present in the daytime as were there before all on the islet. More come in at night and roost on wires and sit also along the SE & E shores and up in the grass on the E corner.

Amerman 1964 Sand Johnston Feb 18 600 Sooties, 2 C.I. Shearwaters landed 8.30 - 11.30. Feb 19 Banded 1 RITB under fuel tank. 19 more banded on Johnston, 11 on eggs. All on J.I. were painted with fluorescent green to observe inter-island movement. All were found under bushes. Both gulls still present on J.F. 600 Sooties, 2 Common Noddis, 1 C.I. Shearwater landed 8.30 - 12. Feb 20 Binion reported a group of Sooties sitting on the slope NE of the Brown Boobies ~ 9 AM. These disappeared or merged with the group on the point by afternoon. At 2.30 p.m. The Sooties on the point numbered about 2000. Most of these were on the ground, only about 300 in the air, which represents a change from the more nearly equal distribution of the past few days. Dave found 25+ Sooty eggs on the islet, plus 3 C. Wolly, 18 Grey-back, 15 Gray back eggs on dock. We decided to discontinue banding temporarily because of the difficulties

Arieman 1964 Sand - Johnston Feb 20 in catching created by The '7> full moon directly overhead and also to see if they will perhaps begin nesting with the nightly disturbance stopped. Feb 21 Made our weekly survey of Johnston. Both gulls still there in their same spots. Banded 5 more Red-tailed Tropicbirds and repainted most of the others with darker green. Total of 24 banded here now, plus at least 9 still not banded. Others present - White-tailed Tropic bird - 1 - Dave reports 2 were seen at times before. It seems quite possible that they may be nesting but - we have been unable to discover the site if so. Ruddy Turnstone - 6 - Marked decease. Golden Plover - 60 - 70 Waidowin Tattler - 3 Sanderling - 6 Dairy Tan - 8 - 3 in air with 9-10 Red-tails. Scotties sitting down before dark on SE side of Transmitter building.

Rmeeman 1964 Sand Johnston Feb 22 Sooties, Graybacks & Noddies seen from raft flying toward N point, from W - 2-10 AM - low numbers but a steady stream. One new tropic bird under old piece with one banded Wednesday on Johnston. 5-6000 Sooties on N point all day. 32 Grayback eggs on islet and 19 on pier - 51. Also ~20 Sooty eggs on islet. Many of these seem to suffer early destruction. Common Noddy eggs laid Jan 18 hatched. At least one more C.I. Shearwater on island unlanded. Feb 23 Large numbers of Sooties (~5000) in air & on ground to SE of transmitter all day. Moved in overnight - Also large nos. along St Akire, among frigates & Sooties. Many eggs. Population on point may be stabilized- noticeable decline in numbers there, a great many eggs. laid out a new Sooty study plot at the edge of the colony on the point. Hopefully They will continue moving inward. Exoparasite

Ravenman 1964 Sand Johnston Feb 24 study plots were staked out adjacent to the new plot and to plot #2. Staked all 12 Brown Booby nests and the Red-foot nest with egg. Began banding and painting Brown Boobies. We are trying to number each bird with the fluorescent orange, giving pairs adjacent numbers and males even numbers. This number is painted on the breast; in order to distinguish marked birds while sitting we are also painting the neck. Feb 28 Binion left at noon. Mar 2 15th Progress Report: Goodies from the S.I. arrived including chicken, staples, kerosene, towels, tigs and (eight) orange streamers. Now have some 30,000 of the latter on hand according to S.I. scales. Mar 3 Moved study plot 3 from St shore to interior in same line as plot 2, on Tribulus. No eggs had been laid yet at the former location, apparently since it was an open ground. We have noticed that the boobies seem to favor

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areas where there is at least some vegetation. Eggs are laid on bare ground between or by plants but if they are dropped in a completely open area at all there are very few and they appear only after the surrounding areas are filled densely. Plot #1 had only 3 eggs at the same time the surrounding area had hundreds. The same was true of plot #2. Man 4 - Moved plot 5 onto patch of [illegible] nearby, further out at bottom of slope, for same reason as above. Man 5 - Johnston survey - GP - 170° 10' RT - 30 WT - 3 Sand - 6. FT - 3 Franklin's Cut Weston Cut RTIB - 26 including 4 chicks. We checked with Mr. Kalish of JTF 96 about this zone. It had arrived but due to henchy situation regarding H&N walkout we were asked not to use it.

K.E. Roseman 1964 Sand Johnston Mar.5 (cont.) The golden plovers were all in one group on the east shore south of the weather beacon. There may have been an increase in the whole island population may have been concentrated in the one area at low tide. The tinamous (2 mated on Sand), tattlers and 2 sandpipers were there too, also the Franklins. Mar.7 - We observed one golden plover on the islet apparently in complete spring plumage and 2-3 more with a good deal of black below around the shore of the main island. Many suddenly tinamous have been seen lately with the reddish-brown calico pattern on the back. Mar.10 - Dave & I began collecting the birds for the at-sea release experiment to be carried out by the Starbuck crew about 7.30 after finishing our egg counts and runways. We collected 14 barks (10 B) of nesters from an area where nesting had begun lately, 1 far from along the road where they had begun laying just today, 1 for non-nesting birds from the Elda Creek area adjacent to the road, and a bar of 4 reds, and 3 gray-backs on eggs from

K.E. Bowman 1964 Sand Johnston Mar 10 - the N periwinkles. With the breasts were painted various colors and the same color sprayed around the eggs. Data as follows: Feety (old) - Red - 7:53 - 74301-08 Sunrise Mould " - Green - 24-16 Noon " " (new) - Blue - 17-24 Sunrise "13 " (New) - Orange - 35-32 Noon " " (old) - Black - 35-40 Sunset Mould " - Blue - 7:53 - 8:56 45-48 Midnight " Noddy - 6:13 Orange - 14:20-01070-72 Sunrise Mould Ah, rain, blessed rain! From 9 PM. through the night, accompanied by thunder lightning. What fiendish Olympian mind decales this unfailing war of harassment on the 1967 Troops? Two-minute sporadic squalls, I lost for weeks and then delays as we collect birds! Mar 11 - U.S.S. Energy arrived at Johnston 1000. Bat 1 crew arrived at Sand 1100 via M-boat. Dave & I gave them the first tour, including fish stall (id, much to the annoyance of the station crew), sharks (75 miles around off cast shore, possibly breeding), and one pretty team depositing an egg

K.E. Ammann 1964 Eard Johnston Mar 11 - right in plain view. We arranged the times of release of the various groups of birds (see Mar 11) and packed them off with the troops - beat 1330. Pat reported that a blackfooted albatross had followed them in as far as the sea buoy. He also Told us that one of the ships crew had shot a marrhed footy banded here, probably on Feb. 26. He mistook the orange stripe across the birds breast for breeding plumage! (We had run out of jessie that night and painted that particular bird). * Three wedge-tails found after dark - 3 returns, 1 unbanded. Two in laptains below transmitter building, one above bunker. Mar 12 - Three wedge-tails present again but at least 2 new different than last night's birds. Banded two, one light and one intermediate. At level Three members of the crew reported seeing what must have been a black-footed albatross on the eastward end men beach. We could not find it but this

Location: Otterton Nell, Point O. Observer: [illegible] American Date: 03-15-64 Time to Weather SPECIES Abundance Breeding 1-10 10-100 100-1000 1000+ Nests Eggs Young Remarks Sandy 2. Laysan Albatross Black-footed Albatross Wedge-tailed Shearwater 1 total; 53 per night, increasing Christmas I. Shearwater 22-23 total; 1-10 per night Audubon's Shearwater Bonin I. Petrel Phoenix I. Petrel Bulwer's Petrel Sooty Petrel Red-tailed Tropicbird 4 2 2 + up to 8 which fly in every day 100- White-tailed Tropicbird 23 Masked Booby 1 2-7 Brown Booby 80 35 3 Red-footed Booby 16 3 Great Frigatebird 1 Golden Plover Ruddy Turnstone 1 Wandering Tattler up to 20 Sanderling Bristle-thighed Curlew Sooty Tern 25-100,000 daily; 3 nightly; ? total Gray-backed Tern 350 ± 19% Brown-winged Tern Common Noddy 300 ± 25% Hawaiian Noddy 15 6 4 Blue-gray Noddy Fairy Tern 8 15 11 4 at location 495 Red-tailed Tropicbird Golden Plover 1 Ruddy Turnstone ? Wandering Tattler ? Sanderling ? Western Gull 1 Franklin's Gull 4

K. E. Atterman 1964 Sand-Johnston Mar 12 - affectiatively unprintable descriptions suggest that species. Perhaps we will turn it up tomorrow on Johnston. If it is a blackfoot, it may well be the one which followed Pat's ship in. A golden plover was found tonight unable to fly but for no apparent reason. Dave found another in the same condition last night. Perhaps they are weakened by starvation and molt, or poisoned from insecticide? Mar 13 - Three red sooties noted at 1100 - #’s 4,5,7. They were not present at 1300 yesterday. A fourth was present at 1800, could not catch it. A possible 5th may have been there 2000. These birds all released yesterday at Marine; no sign of Noddies or gray-tacks released with them. Mar 14 - One more red Sooty, no. 2, and two greens, nos. 12 & 14 observed at 1000. One Common Noddy also had returned by that time. A third green (15) found at 1530. Mar 15 - Nos. 8 (red) and 16 (green) present 0700. Mar 16 - Nos. 6 (red) & 39 (black) " 0700. Also: Another Common Noddy had returned by 7 P.M. Mar 17 - Nos. 1 (red) and 42 (blue) present at 0700. The first Gray-tack had returned

Ken Amemman 1264 Sand Johnston Mar 17 - by 7 P.M. The first nonnesting Sooty TROPIC was first noticed at 11 P.M. above RFB nest #4. I could not catch it: it was back in the same spot an hour later. The second noddly was present again 7 P.M. Mar 18 - Nos. 1 (red) and 20 (blue, new) were seen for the first time 0830. Nos. 10 & 13 (green) were picked up for the first time also but one or both has been here for 2-3 days. The non-nesting Sooty and the Gray-back reported yesterday were at the same places 7 P.M. today. Dr. Ely, Dr. Humphrey, Capt. Sudduth, John Bushman and the medical advisory group arrived on schedule this afternoon for a tour. 5 green, 2 blue(old), 1 red, (black present at midnight. Mar 19 - Nos. 39 & 37 (black), 11 (green), 41? (blue-old) present in the morning. Probably the same birds that were seen last night. Four other greens & no. 42 (blue) also present. Mar 21 - On a fishing trip outside the reef Dave and I saw 4-5 Red-tailed Tropic birds sitting on the water a short distance beyond the reef, 730 - 1030 A.M. We also saw several wedge tails feeding, amongst

K.E. Annerman 1964 Sand - Johnston Mar 21 - Scoties. One or two greyharks were seen and an occasional Common Waddy. All the activity occurred during the morning, when we were on the NW side of the reef. Very few, if any, birds were seen in the afternoon on the other side - time or location or both? Mar 22 - Binnin returned from the locwned trip and arrived here about 1100. Cameron Loersburg (Y.N.A., U.S.N.) arrived shortly after this. He will escort 300 Scoty Terns back. Mar 23 - Collected 16 Scoties for release at sea from the U.S.C.G. Planetree tomorrow. Nos. 1-8 numbered in red, will be released 0800. Nos. 9-16 in blue will be let loose at 1500. All from eggs by left of transmitter. Collected 300 Scoties for Loersburg from in front of the dock and on the road to the dump. Perhaps 1/3 of these were not on eggs, though they may have had mates which were. Mar 24 - No sign of released Scoties. Binnin and I observed some interesting things in the Scoties during the afternoon. Several birds left their eggs for short periods (less than a minute to 2-3 minutes),

K.E. Amerman 1964 Sandie Johnston Mar 24 apparently to get water. We watched many dipping their bills in the lagoon all around the island. It was a very hot, still day. Many of the birds were noted with bills open - equivalent of gular flutter? We also observed changeover in several pairs. In most this was accomplished with ease; the sitting bird merely moved aside when the new one nudged it beneath with its bill, generally from the side. In case the former incubating partner remained nearby and in some instances deported immediately. In one case, one bird gave up the egg and then returned and took it over again in less than 3 min. One pair seemed to be having difficulties. The incubating bird was very reluctant to leave and its partner repeatedly tried to get at the egg, rooting under the other bird and under its wing trying to push the other off. Perhaps changeover had already occurred. I wonder if the very liquid materials given up by some of the birds (from bill and anus) indicate that that bird has been incubating for some time, without solid food.

K.E. Newman 1964 Sand-Johnston Mar 24 Perhaps the water lost from the mouth might be from a bird which has just come from getting a drink. Noted several frigate[s] sitting on the 1st set of inner guy wires right above the transmitter, beside the antenna. We have never seen them sitting there before. Many had their wings open in the "sunbathing" posture. Many more than usual were on the other wires too - also true of Red-foots. Probably due to heat. Observed several Sooties picking up stones and dropping them in the vicinity of the nest while incubating. Mar 25 Another very hot, calm day. The frigate[s] were again sitting on the low guy wire right by the antenna, in greater numbers today - 100-200 wheeling above the islands on the south side all day. Few sitting in the colony - only about 60 in the morning. Binion suggests that the Sooties may move to shade the egg rather than to face into the wind, at least when the wind is below a certain level. Today, with no wind, they did seem to be doing this. Very high tides again are wreaking

K.E. Amerman 1964 Sand-Johnston Mar 25 - Destruction on eggs. We did not get out to the islet today but probably the Noddies and Gray backs have suffered severe losses. All but 2 of the 6-13 eggs on the west side of the peninsula have been lost and today the Common Noddies there were hit hard for the first time with 18 destroyed. We have decided to discontinue checking frigate eggs daily to see if this reduces egg losses. We have about 50 eggs now remaining, of which 64 is the lowest number. The longer they remain the greater the likelihood of their being lost. Perhaps without our interference some would have chicks by now. The first Footy (#3) returned from the Planetree between 12:30-13:45 - about 30 hours after release. Mar 26 - Second Footy (#5) back by 14:12; arrived after 11:00. #3 still present. Mar 27 - No. 8 present 08:30 arrived between 19:00 yesterday and 08:30 today. Neither 3 nor 5 present 08:30, 5 present at 11:00. No. 1 present 08:00. Rain began last night about 7, stopped by morning and then started again. Intermittent showers all day.

K.E. Ammerman 1964 Sand Island Mar 28 - Sprinkles and clouds still around. What a beautiful relief from the constant diet of sunshine, heat & glow. Dinner - I went to Johnston in the afternoon, conducted a partial survey: RTTB - 19 At., 6 chicks (3 new), 4 eggs (3 new - 5 side of nursery). BP - 20-30 seen RT - none seen WT - 2 PT - none seen Franklin's Gull still present. It has moved east of the weather beacon onto a spit near the area where shedding continues. Very scared. Mar 29 - While making egg counts, Bumer discovered a Bulwer's Petrel in a hole in the rocks on the east shore of the peninsula. This is the first record for Sand Island as far as we know. We banded the bird rather than taking it as a specimen. Perhaps more will show up. Mar 30 - For the past several days no birds have been roosting on the rocks by the whip antenna. A few (3-6) frigates also red-foots have been picked on the pilings, and 1-3

K.E. Ammann 1964 Sand - Johnston Mar 30. Blue-faced Boubies sit on the highest rock. Perhaps the very high tides have discouraged birds from sitting there or perhaps there has been a change in the population. First of second release group (±14) returned 6 days after being turned loose. The seventh red (±2) showed up at the same time (2240). Mar 31 - Two more of the second group of Boubies returned - ±9 around 1300, ±12 at 1500. Birrier found the Boubies we had banded back in the same place and a second trial nearby, 2230 - 2300. April 1 - A third Boubie's Petrel was found along the causeway, banded and released; April 2 - Johnston survey - BP - 150 (est.) RT - 30-40 " WT - 2 - 6 FT - 9 seen RITB - 28 ad, 7-8 chicks. Franklin's Bull - has moved east, to new hedging area, very scared, cannot get close enough for shot. No sign of Western Bull.

K. Amanman 1964 Sand - Johnston April 7 - Franklin's bill collected at last! We discovered it sitting on the north peninsula in the evening. Binion scared with the station gun. The bird possibly may have been attracted to Sand by the numerous dead fish which have washed up from the dynamiting operations - it had never appeared here before. April 4 - Binion and I got out to North (PMR) Island via the CG raft to investigate a report of "about a thousand" birds on eggs. We found about 85 grayback eggs and 120 birds. A few Sooties were flying around and we found one possible Sooty egg (too big). There may have been many more eggs, since the report was received about a week before we could get over there, and they have been busy pushing that all week. We collected about 50 eggs from an area where they were certain to be destroyed. April 5 - I got off at the island again while skin diving and could find

K. Newman 1964 Sand-Johnston April 5 - only 14 eggs remaining, and April 13 - about 25-30 birds. April 14 - The AF Captain from the satellite camera reported that a few fairy terns were possibly nesting inside the N.N. warehouse adjacent to the exchange. We checked on this and found that one egg had indeed been laid on one of the high rafters. It had been removed by one of the men and placed in a "nest" outside; we collected it, as it was bad. The man we talked to said that nesting activity began about two months ago in this area. The Captain stated that the terns spend the night and early morning in bushes behind the Tennis courts, then move to bushes above the hospital in the afternoon and down next to the N.N. warehouse in late afternoon. April 16 - We have noted Common Nettles stealing food from Sooties several times recently. They fly back forth over an area of the colony, low, and grab food being fed to a chick, oftentimes grabbing the Sooty's bill, sometimes even lifting the bird up just as

R.E. Greeman 1964 Sand - Johnston frigates do. We also have seen frigates harassing wedge tails as they come in at night, which is surprising since the size of the bird is so different. April 26 - While checking plots we found an albino Scoty chick near plot #3. We removed it and will try to rear it to an age that a skin can suitably be made of it. Found a fifth Bulwer's Petrel in a deep hole on the right side of the causeway (heading east), just east of the signal building. It was making a curious humming sound, made more resonant by the chamber, probably. April 27 - Departed Johnston Island 10 PM via MATS N-28; arrived Hickam AFB, Honolulu, 1 am. Dr. Ely met me here with permits for the 1000 live ticks

K.E. Amerman 1964 McPulua Island May 1 - Field party consisted of L. Nuber, V. Hoeman, Bob Long and K. Amerman. After a late start we set out in the 6 man (he!) rubber raft about 1700. We arrived on the bigger of the pair of islands about 1745. one-two hundred wedgetails were noted in the air around both islands on the way out. A few foobies, probably redfoots, and numerous Scotty Terns were also noted. Upon our arrival Long proceeded to collect soil and plant samples, Nuber climbed to the top to observe until dark and Hoeman and I began banding wedgetails. We worked until 1230, mainly by flashlight since only one headlamp was working. Banded a total of 740 wedgetails, using the last of our bands, and 60 Bulwer's Petrels. Nuber did these, said they were found only in two small areas. Probably this represents the near total of birds on the island last night; possibly 50 pairs using the island. The consensus on the wedgetail population was 7500 ± 2500 birds. I

K. Amerman 1964 Mobulua Island believe there may be 7000 pairs using the island. The Shauwaters were very vocal all the while we were there. The main body apparently arrived after dark, as there were very few on the ground prior to this. Most of the burrows were in the soft reddish soil on the center of the landward side. Most of these were in short grass, though many were in a mixture of higher grass and hantana and some were in sand near the shore on the side between the two islands. Most of the burrows were quite short, only about 1-1/2' deep so that a single bird just fit in. Some were wide enough to accommodate both members of the pair; though many had very small We did not visit the other island of the pair. Coming back in the raft we noted Shauwaters flying about us more than 1/3 of the way back to shore.

K.C. Ammann 1964 Manana Is., Oahu May 2 L. Huber, R. Long and K. Ammann set out in the rubber raft 1645. We encountered greater difficulty than we had in going to Mobula the day before, due to cross currents and 3' swells. Finally arrived in the churning surf 1800. Hoy began collecting plants and soil samples in a transect across the crater while I made observations and population estimates and Huber began banding Sooties. All of us banded from 7:30 to 12, then Huber and I or through till 6 A.M. We departed 7 A.M. The Sooties occupied a broad belt across the vegetation on the landward side. They extended from the soil- or rock- band junction about halfway up the slopes, in some cases further up than this on ridges. They did not occur above or to any extent among the tobacco plants. Many were also distributed around the crater rim, some on tame rock and some in grass clumps. Noddies were found in two main areas — on the inside of the crater wall above the line of solid vegetation and at the base of the wall. They

K.E. Amewar 1964 Manana were concentrated in the central portion of the wall, where it became highest. A few were also found in valleys between ridges on the landward (south) and S.E. slopes. Wedge-tail shearwater burrows were distributed over the entire landward face up to about halfway. They became more dense in the areas occupied by tobacco plants and on the west and NW slopes, where the Footys were absent. Very densely distributed in the crater also. Population estimates: Sooty Tern - 50,000 pairs (R.C. 50) Wedge-tail - 4,000 (landward slopes) R.C. 20,000 (crater) (guess) Common Noddy - 4,000 (R.C. 50) Bulwer's Petrel - 2 landed, no others seen. Approximately 30% of the Sooty Tern eggs had hatched. All but a very small percentage of those were less than one week old; the remainder were 10 days - 2 weeks old (capulacs 1/4" x 3/4"-1" in area). The oldest chicks were located on the S.W. slopes. Harry examined several Noddy eggs and found no visible embryos, indicating that they have all been laid

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At Sea - General Notes May - Scattered birds outside grid. Long periods of few or no birds, then numerous flocks, inside. June - Marked contrast. Flocks down inside grid, low no. of Sooty Terns? Wedgetails. Almost no Bobbies. Move into Pterodromas on last 1/2-1/3 of legs - many more than in May. Many Bulwers. July - Flocks, Sooties and Wedgetails still low in grid though latter more numerous than in May. Very few Bulwers. Bobbies still low. Tropic birds increasing. New birds - May - Shna, Newells, Sooty Shear June - Blue Grey Nitty July - Kennerdic Paticl May - Normal grid; 15 days June - N to La Reunse (F.F.S.), down chain July - Attempted came as June, turned before F.F.S.

Kanani July 31 * Arrived on Hanalei last night 20:30 via Naui Airlines, Paul Woodward, Carmen Kepner. I left the Hale Nalani Motel about 7 A.M. and drove west + then north on 50 to Hanapepe, Wainee and Kekaha, past acres of sugar cane, and then slip continued up to the Kokee region along the west side of Waimea Canyon. After hiking in Kalalau Lookout (4000'), which offers a spectacular view of the Kalalau Valley in the coastal Na Pali Cliffs, as it momentarily emerges from the fog-like clouds and then melts away again, we drove as far as possible on the Moliki Road and then began hiking over the ridges. No rain after noon. Birds seen : trying to reach the Alakai Swamp Hypopae - 80-100' many stages of molt - circular Creeper - 16:30 - metallic calls, Dove - 4-6 - aptly named Anianian - 2 - light yellow Kipapa - 1 Elepaio - 15 White eye - 200-250 Horse Finch - 12+ on roads Mynah - 20 Lodge area

Kauai July 31, 1964 Ricbird - 6 road edges Chinese Thrush - 3 along stream of trail Hawaiian Duck - 1 Black - or Night Heron - 1 (not seen till 4) California Quail - 8 foraging on manges on road Spotted Dove - 24 White-tailed Tropicbird - 50+ Waxwing Canyon: Kalalau Valley Shelf-saved owl - 2 dusk by cane fields along 50. Band-tailed Dove House Sparrow Cardinal - ridge area Jungle Bowl (C) - calling Day 1, 1964 Got a later start today, Then went straight to Kalalau lookout and drove to the trail as far as possible on the Kalalau-Haena road. Went into very wild area, nearly constant light rain. Vegetation quite wild, very different from yesterday's area. Just as we decided to turn back for lack of time an Ama-iki passed right in front of us, so the day wasn't wasted. While sight seeing later in day Paul identified a Barn Owl

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Amerman, Kenneth 1964 FIELD NOTES August 16--Pearl and Hermes Reef Ship arrived off Southeast Island about 1500. Raft and most of gear launched about 1730, arrived on Southeast 1800 and set up camp on the east corner. Two groups of three surveyed the island before dark. After dark 1000 Sooty Terns landed. Five hundred each adult and immatures. Turtles (Green ?) on north shore - about a dozen. Similar number of seals. Some tagged, noted all around shore. Retired August 17--Up before 0800 for radio check and breakfast. Pete and I then went after boobies and frigates and getting nest counts and banding whatever possible. Paul and Alan covered the albatrosses. Thirty-nine young Laysan banded. Al Young - plants. Dick - seal skeleton. Boat came in around 1000. In afternoon Alan, Dick, and I banded 100 immature Sooty Terns each while Paul and Pete made unsuccessful attempt to get some Gray- backs and Hawaiian Noddies. Relaxed for a while in late afternoon. After dark 900 Wedgetails and 700 Sooty Terns banded. Wedgetails quite spooky, especially in chicks. Also worked on Boobies, Hawaiian Noddies and Graybacks. August 18--Boat arrived 0830. Doug came in, spent day on Southeast. We took some bands, nets, and food and set out for two small sand islands west ? of Southeast.

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 Landed briefly on Bird Island at 0930. No vegetation, long and thin, sand and ground coral with a little coral shelf at the East end. Banded one immature Masked Booby. Also present two adult Masked Boobies, one Wandering Tattler. Three Turnstones, and one Gray back. Stopped at Sand ? Island 1100. Masked Booby - 9, one banded. Hawaiian Noddy - 100 ? Common Noddy - 20 ? Turnstone - 2. Arrived Grass Island 1200. Fairy Tern 5 Frigate - 250+ Common Noddy - 3000+ Hawaiian Noddy - 2 - 3 Laysan Albatross - 3 Sanderling - 2 Turnstone - 3 Tattler - 1 Red-footed Booby - 1 (immature) Masked Booby - 2 (immature) Sooty Tern - 20 (in air) Red-tailed Tropicbird - 8 Wedge tail - 18 eggs and chicks Arrived Seal 1315 Common Noddy - 1500 Hawaiian Noddy - 700 Fairy Tern - 2 Sooty - 1000 - 1500 Grayback - 15 Frigate - 75 Laysan Albatross - 1 immature Red-tailed Tropicbird - 13 Masked Booby - 9 Turnstone - 9 Wedge tail - 4 seen Surveyed Kittery from Seal 2 Masked Booby 1 Frigate 2 Seals 1 Gray-back Turnstones

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 Took raft across reef to meet ship off Seal. Very shallow, small waves, only one of which broke over us. Hauled gear and raft aboard and (1500) returned to Southeast. Landed again on Southeast about 1815, this time through small boat channel (shallow) from rear. Counted dead albatross young before dark 600 - 800 and picked up recoveries. After dark banded 1000 Sooty adults, 600 Wedgetails, finishing Sooties just before dawn. August 19--Broke camp in about one hour between 0700-0800. Boat arrived 0830. Gear stowed; underway to North Island 10 miles across lagoon; choppy and windy, soaked constantly. Arrived at South - North Island about 1100. Masked Booby - one with downy young Seals Arrived North Island 1130. Set up camp at base of long peninsula. Walked around island and then slept for a couple of hours. Woke up Cold. Paul was out banding Tropicbirds, Laysans. I surveyed island, estimating Wedgetails and Common Noddies. No Sooties present! 250- 350 Frigates in air. Ten turtles were on the shore in front of the camp when I went out. Returned to camp and ate, then slept until about 1. Went out banding Wedgetails (400) and then went after Masked Boobies. Latter were concentrated down on the peninsula. Obtained several returns.

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 August 20 - Pearl and Hermes Reef - Lisianski Returned to camp and slept for two hours. In the morning we covered the entire island thoroughly, finding 100 Common Noddy locals with efficulty. Pete banded 48 Frigate nestlings. Broke camp and returned to ship before noon. Lagoon completely calm. One orange-tagged Common Noddy seen and collected by Paul. August 21--Arrived off Lisianski about 0800. Landed on the island c a 0930. Set up camp near a small grove of Casuarinas on the shore. We split into two trios again and walked around the island. Seals very numerous - close to 150 in all. We cut back across the center of the island. Very hit, flies quite bothersome. Wedgetail burrows all over. Found two Bonin Petrels in the fall grass. Found the tents full of flies on our return. Went for a swim to get some relief. Dick and I and Pete and Alan banded 400 adult Sooty Terns in the afternoon. Paul went after Tropicbirds and Boobies. August 22--Got up at 1030. Banded Sooty Terns until dawn - 2500 total. Paul did 100 Bonins. Slept for a couple of hours, made radio check at 0800, waited for boat to come in. Dick and I went out about 0930 to band 500 Sooty chicks a pied. Proved to be the hardest job we could have picked. They ran faster and better through the grass than adults. Finished the 1000, with Paul's help and the flies hindrance, about 1230.

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 Spent the afternoon walking around, taking pictures, trying to set relief from the flies that continued to plague us. Puttered around until dark, then went after Sooties again. Finished the final 2000 bands by about 0030. Paul did 300 Wedgetails during this period. Paul and I went out again after Bonin Islands. Came back and slept for a couple of hours. Awoke with a start to find boat in (0530). Broke camp in record one half hour, back to ship for final run. Under way 0200.

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 6 September 16 - Laysan Island We arrived off Laysan in the USNS "Shearwater" about 7 a.m. and dropped anchor about 0.4 mile off the west shore, in line with the "best landing" site. About 500 Sooty Terns, 1/4 - 1/5 immatures, were flying about the ship, and an estimated 1000 more were visible above the west side of the island. A few Red-tailed Tropicbirds and Fairy Terns flew around briefly. A small number of Red-footed Boobies and Blue-faced Boobies flew past on their way to sea. A few hundred Frigates could be seen over the island and several immatures played king of the roost on the radar mast and boom. Common Noddies, including many immatures were also around the ship - over 100 Sooty Shearwaters were seen before leaving. All the gear was loaded and the raft launched at 9 a.m. We landed at first opposite the former camping areas (Casuarinas) but then decided to set up camp on the northwest corner, where there is only open sand, hoping to avoid the flies. Red-footes in Casuarinas, Laysan Finches and Fairy Terns in Scaevola. Very open grassy area behind Casuarinas contained a few (8) Christmas Islands, Wedgetails and Sooty Terns. Latter not dense at all. Rested a while after setting up camp, then Dick, Alan Young, and I walked around the lagoon for survey while Paul, Doug, and Alan walked the outer beach. A total of ___ Common Noddies were scattered around the whole shore. Estimate 1000+ shorebirds in lagoon, primarily on west side, with Ruddy Trunstones, Golden Plover and Wandering Tattler in ratio of 100: 5: 1. Two Bristle-thighs were seen on the west side and three on thea east, though the latter may have included the former.

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 7 Maximum of 500-600 Frigates in air 2-3 times, plus many smaller groups up to 100+. The small groups probably were successive as we went around. No estimate of total. Only __Masked Boobies present. Small (on centration (10 - 12) on east shore. Red-feet generally far into vegetation, nearer outside edge; more numerous on east side. One immature Red-tailed Tropicbird under Scaevola on east side. One Hawaiian Noddy egg, one chick about 4 feet apart in Scaevola. A total of 80+ Laysan Teal, all on east shore. Probably many more in morning glory. Apparently the lack of them on the west side is due to the greater width of unvegetated shore. Returned to camp about 3 p.m. Shortly after this the guys from the raft came by and Bob Banner came struggling up with a surfboard of all things which he'd found in his jaunt around. Other team still not back so I went walking north along the shore. Found Fairy Terns nesting on rocks along the shore; 17 birds, 4 chicks, no eggs. Many Wedgetail burrows under same rocks. Before going on survey Alan and I had gone in to the lagoon, finding about 40 teal. Walked back along beach. Small groups of Sooty Terns (100 or so) along edge of vegetation. One Fairy Tern egg under grass clump. Small groups of Wedgetails, up to 20 and many individuals and plus setting on beach. Dick reports two orange tagged Sooties and one Wedgetail. Returned to camp about 6 p.m. The other team finally returned shortly thereafter. They report about five rocky areas containing Fairy Terns, large Christmas Island chicks and three Bulwer's chicks. No counts on other birds; too far from vegetated areas. Over 200 seals

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 (Bob Banner, preceeding them, counted over 200, estimated another 100. Everyone but Paul slept until midnight. He woke us up after banding boobies. Alan and Paul continued after boobies, Dick, Alan and Bob went after Wedgetails and Doug and I walked the shoreline for Fairy Terns and shorebirds. We went north at first to the rocks, then back toward the ship. The shorebirds appear to move out from the lagoon at night, as there are few on the shore during the day. We banded Ruddy Trunstones, Wandering Tattlers, Bristle-thighed Curlews, Christmas Islands, and Fairy Terns, and two Bulwer's. Raft in about 8:30 a.m. Dick and I went after Sooty Terns about 9 while Doug tried the mist nest by the lagoon and Paul and Alan went after more boobies. Finished the 500 Sooties in about four hours. Very few non-flying young. Possibly 1/10 the population from beginning of colony to corner banded. This is perhaps 1/4 of island population. Disturbances every once in a while - birds going for drinks or going to feed? Very few birds barfing fresh squid, only after 11 a.m. Came back to camp ~1 p.m., went for swim. Tried sleeping in afternoon, got rained on. Alan and Bob hauled back two loads of fish balls. Camp now resebles antique shop. Slept again from 9 to 2:30, they went after Wedgetails as Paul and Alan returned from getting boobies. Dick and company went after 500 Sooty Terns. Wedgetails in morning glory along algoon very scarce. Difficult to catch anywhere with moon. Finished 230 by 6 a.m., in same area where we banded Sooties. Found three Bonins, one in morning glory near palms, two in grass (one in burrow, 5 foot long). Wrote up notes at breakfast. Dick had caught a Golden Plover during the night so we had a session of taking photos. Doug and Alan

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 and Alan and I began walking west around the island surveying, collecting insects and clocking for ticks and taking photos, about 10 a.m. Insects on the ground relatively scarce - we collected some sow bugs, beetles resembling weevils, tiny ants or termites, some spiders. Flies everywhere in vegetation, though not as bad anywhere as on Lisanski last month. No ticks could be found anywhere. Alan and Doug and Then Alan Young turned back to camp and I continued around the island. Found several (5) Tropicbird chicks under one large clump of Scaevola by the Casuarina that Paul had missed and several more groups and individuals all the way around. Usually 3 - 6 adults in air in an area. One at the southwest end was trying to fly. Groups of Fairy Terns were present on the rocks all the way around. Estimate 300+ for island. They looked minute against the rock wall with the surf crashing behind. Frigates through Scaevola all the way around; many rusty-headed immatures on the southwest corner. Still no estimate. Saw about 150 Red-footes again but must be many more. Masked Boobies in clear areas at other end - 3, 9, 5, and occasional individuals and pairs in grass, plus one group of 5, 2 of which were painted, one open beach. Frigates seen to give way to Red-footes as you move from west to east. Magnificent waves crashing on a rugged fringing rock wall at the opposite end of the island! Grey rocks, looks almost like a gorge coming up on it. Seals bobbing around in the waves. Brown rocks and shelves against the beautiful green water in the east side also very picturesque. Reef close to island all the way around. Beautiful green and red parrotfish. Saw fifteen or so Curlews in the rocky area at the end; estimate at least 100 for island now. One strange shorebird, half size of curlew

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 10 but with long thin green-grey legs, 2 inch black bill, nondescript gray resembles yellow-legs in this area also, among turnstones and plovers. Sooty Terns much more numerous than I had thought. Stopped for a while in the area in which we had been banding. Fivehundred adults banded here, very few banded birds seen. Cannot tell if they extend the grass or are concentrated along the periphery. May be as many as 200,000 here, perhaps 500,000 in breeding height. Caught up to Dick and returned to camp (3 p.m.). Swam briefly, then went to sleep after 5 until midnight. Went out after Wedgetails and Bonins. Paul and Alan had found a concentration of the latter in grass between tower and Casuarina. I could find only about 5, they must go underground or under vegetation as night wears on. Did 140 Wedgetails quickly and came back for more about 3 a.m. Alan, Bob, Aland I Finished another 200 by 4:45, came back to camp and slept for two hours. Fairy Tern egg on tower, popped yesterday, hatched sometime after 11 today (September 18). Dick reports one Common Noddy with orange tag. Five returns of Fairy Terns. September 19--Upon awaking, found that the USCG ship "Basswood" was anchored off the island. Waited around camp preparing to go out around the lagoon until 9:30 or 10:00, by which time Bob Fleet appeared with Eugene Kreidler and Ron Walker on their way around the beach censusing seals. Talked briefly with them, then went up to where Doug and Alan were having a very difficult time catching adult Sooty Terns. Headed in toward lagoon, met Bob Long collecting Ipomea specimens in hopes of getting 3 varieties.

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 Walked along west shore of lagoon counting shorebirds. Counted 1394 Ruddy Trunstones but this may have included many counted twice; however, probably compensated for by others on outer beach - estimate 1600. Also present - 358 Golden Plover, 132 Wandering Tattler, 8 Sanderling, 3 Bristle-thighed Curlew, one large shorebird, brown-grey, faint eye stripe, long straight bicolored bill (tip black, baral 1/3 orange), long black legs, barred grey and white tail, rump grey, slightly lighter than body. Limosa sp. ? (lapponica ?). Did not appear -go be the same bird I saw yesterday at the south end in the rocks. Cut up through the center of the vegetation on the west side to chick on Sooty Tern distribution. They are not evenly distributed through the Dragrostis, occurring mainly in a continuous band through the more open grass but not to any great extent in the entirely open spaces. This strip appears lighter than the denser, taller grass when viewed from the ridge. Now estimate 60 - 75,000 Sooties, perhaps 1/3 to 2/5 of which are immatures; very few non-flying young. Also found a flock of 750+ Golden Plover in one large open area which apparently was the terminus of the guano digger's railroad according to Ron Walker - tracks still present. Paul estimated the same Golden Plover flock at about 1000. Stopped at the Fish and Wildlife camp and met John Beardsley of University of Hawaii, entomologist. He had just finished walking around the lagoon, sweep-netting. He reports that 180 insect species have been recorded on Laysan. Returned to our camp briefly and then went back to the Fish and Wildlife camp with Paul and Alan Young. After a refreshing swim six of

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 12 us set out to census the Laysan Teal, walking through the vegetation about 50 feet apart around the lagoon. We started south on the west side, finding very few. They became more numerous as we passed the palms at the southeast corner. The vegetation also became rougher, with much Scaevola, Solanum and Syparus extending into the Ipomea. About 2/3 of the way around we counted nearly 170 teal on the shore; it was then about 6 p.m. and it appeared that the ducks were coming out of the vegetation to feed. This seemed to be the major portion of the population so we gave up counting and relaxed in appreciation of the right of the birds moving along the shore and in the water in the fading light, bunching up ahead of us. Returned to camp quite tired, slept until 10:30 p.m. Doug and Alan had had to give up after doing 200 Sooties; Doug had returned to the ship in the afternoon, with fish balls, surfboard and driftwood log. Camp now looks pseudoscientific and neat again. Paul and Alan had returned from banding 200+ Bonin Island Petrels and 100 Sooty Terns. Bob Banner returned shortly from doing 200 more Sooties. I went out with 500 Sooty bands and the remainder of the Christmas Island string (29). Banded 200 Sooties, then worked off the 4's. Most of the Christmas Islands were immatures, many with traces of down about the head, and nearly all were sitting on sand just at the annex edge of the outer rim of Scaevola. Found a very few pairs, ran out of Scaevola by the rocks past the Casuarina, finished the bands on the beach. One trio among the rocks, two adults and one half downy young. A few Bulwer present there also.

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 In the course of finding the Christmas Islands, ran across a small group of Brown Boobies for the first time - 13 adults, 2 immatures and 3 1/2 grown chicks on nests. Previously I had seen only one adult, one subadult, one immature, all in the air in early morning. Dick had found eight roosting on rocks on the east side. Do not know if they were from the nesting group. Banded 200 more Sooties on the way back to camp. Everyone up, breaking camp by this time. Raft came in at 6:30 a.m., we were on the ship by seven. Raft returned to pick up Fish and Wildlife personnel since the "Basswood" had had to answer a distress call from a fishing sampan grounded on Maro Reef. Underway 8:30 a.m. Laysan - Summary Lyasan is low coral and sand island 1.6 by .8 miles, long axis north to south, with a large central lagoon of salt water. The major portion of the vegetation consists of Scaevola, Eragrostis and Ipomea. There are five major associations: Nama, with Boerhaavia, Portulaca and small Scaevola, along the outer beaches; Scaevola, with Ipomea, indica Boerhaavia and Tribulus, in a rim along the ridge; open Eragrostis, with Nicotiana tabacum, Fibrystillus cymosa, Tribulus and Boerhaavia, on the upper slopes below the Scaevola; Eragrostis - Ipomea, on the lower slopes, denser; and Ipomea - Cyperus - Heliotropum nearest the lagoon The band of vegetation is about twice as wide on the west side as on the east. The Scaevola on the east side is along the shore for the most part reduced to a few clumps and is nearly absent from the north end. The Eragrostis strip on the east is similarly much narrower.

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 Some Scaevola patches extend into the Ipomea almost to the lower edge of the vegetation on the east side. Two groves of palms, one at the northwest corner and the other at the southeast corner of the lagoon and one large Casuarina constitute the only land marks. Scaevola forms a secondary line behind the rim on the west side, diminishing toward the south. On the south end the Scaevola is very dense and occupies a broad area. A few Red-footed Boobies and one small colony of Browns are found in the outer rim of Scaevola on the west side. Tropicbirds nest in small concentrations (5-6) under higher, larger clumps on the west and down sides, and in larger groups (20+) under very large clumps on the east side. Most of the Frigates are scattered through the western Scaevola rim. Red-footed Boobies increase. Frigates decrease in Scaevola on the south and east. Masked Boobies found in grass (scattered individuals and pairs from Scaevola to Ipomea) and some concentrations in open areas in grass, around lagoon and on east beach. Wedgetails very numerous in grass, less so in Ipomea, fewest (breeding) on open beaches but glarge clubs scattered over beaches on north, east and south. Christmas Islands - resting under outer Scaevola rim on west; immatures just at inner edge; some in Ipomea on west side, some under rocks on west side, some under rocks on west and north beaches. Bonin Island Petrel most common in dense Eragrostis (no Sooty Terns), many at and under edge of outer Scaevola, few in Open grass among

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 sooites, many pairs. Bulwer's Petrel - scarce, under rocks along shore, mostly immatures. Sooty Tern - periphery and open grass up to Scaevola. Noddy Tern - Roosting mainly in Scaevola, small flocks on beach and around lagoon (west) during day. Hawaiian Noddy - Casuarina and Scaevola around it. Fairy Tern - Scaevola along west side, rocky areas on beaches including rock wall at south end, few solitary nests - one in Scaevola southeast, one on rock in opening in grass, on west. One on tower, northwest. Laysan Finch - dense grass primarily, though many around Casuarina, in Scaevola, in Ipomea around lagoon and even open beach.

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 Sooty Tern - Banding 753-91401 - 600 601 - 700 701 - 900 901 92100 92101 - 2000 201 - 300 301 - 500 501 - 700 701 - 800 901 - 93300 93301 - 800 801 - 94400 94401 - 95000 95001 - 95800 95801 - 96400 96401 - 96900 96901 - 97500 97501 - 98100 98101 - 98700 98701 - 99100 99101 - 100000 753-70001 - 70600 70601 - 71200 71201 - 71800 January 16, 1964 200 17 100 19 200 21 200 22 100 23 100 24 200 29 200 30 200 February 1, 1964 1400 2 500 3 600 4 600 5 800 6 600 8 500 10 600 11 600 12 600 13 400 15 900 17 600 18 600 19 600 Eggs NPT. 71801 - 72400 72401 - 72700 72701 - 73300 753-73301 - 73800 73801 - 74300 74301 - 48 (to be released at sea March 12 and 13) 74349 - 400 74401 - 500 74501 - 600 793-50001 - 50200(g) 753-74601 - 900 74901 - 75500 75501 - 75600 March 6, 1964 600 7 300 Plots 1 and 2 8 600 Plot 1 - dock rd. 9 500 Plots 1 and 2 E 10 500 " " " 10 48 Knitter No. 2 12 52 Knitter - dump E 12 100 " " 14 100 Plot 1 - dock rd. " 12 200 Rd to dump 17 300 Left of Knitter " 20 600 " " " 23 100 " " " (1 - 8 numbered with red, 9-16 with blue, for release from USCG Planetree 3/24)

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 Sooty Tern Early December - flocks of -- 100 offshore every night. Late December - 5 to 10,000 around island at night. December 29 - 300 to 400 roosting for first time (first large number). January 15 - Forty to fifty thousand came in at night; two to four thousand roosting. Begin arriving 5 to 4 p.m., remaining offshore in dense clouds on both sides of the island until shortly before dark, when they begin to move in. Do not land until after dark. The birds get up off the ground about 2 a.m. Birds gone by 6 a.m. - do not know when they left. January 24 - 31 -- No sooties roosting on road. Birds would not land in large numbers until moon was down. February 1 -- Birds roosting on road again and landing at dark (8 to 8:10). January 28 - February 18 -- A few scattered eggs in roosting areas, deserted immediately; probably due to our disturbance. Feburay 10 -- First time numbers present in immediate vicinity of the island during the day. About 200 wheeling around islet and ~50 alighting on it several times, during the morning. Those flying would occasionally drift over the main island and then return to the islet. February 14 - Birds arriving noticeably later in afternoon, moving into immediate vicinity of island much quicker rather than hanging far offshore. Main body of birds arrives after 4:30. First eggs, on islet.

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 Sooty Tern cont. February 17 - 20,000 immature; 5000 roosting. ~600 remained on main island, for first time, during morning, on slope among Brown Boobies. Moved to outermost part of the north point by mid-afternoon, half on ground and half in air. One hundred to two hundred birds still around islet all day. Birds no longer congregating in thick clouds offshore before coming in to roost; instead, constant trickle of small numbers from 4 to 5 p.m. on, come right in over island. February 18 - Beginning of nesting. ~25 eggs being incubated in large group on north point. February 20 - Another group of birds remained on slope after main body of birds departed. Apparently moved into flock on north point later in day. 2000+ present on point during day, 3/4 or better on ground. 25+ eggs on islet. February 21 - Birds alighting in roosting areas on south side of the transmitter building before dark for first time. February 22 - 5 - 6000 birds on point all day. Only 3 - 400 of these in air. February 23 - 8 - 1000 birds on point. No birds roosting on road 11:30 p.m., 6 a.m. nesting moring, nor on left of transmitter building. February 24 - Sooties everywhere! About 3000 remained on the south (right) side of the transmitter building all day, on the ground, with another 2000 in the air milling around. A few hundred also were sitting along the southeast shore, among the frigates and boobies and

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 19 all along the slope. None on the road or left of transmitter yet. Those in the areas above the transmitter had thinned out by afternoon. Scattered eggs throughout the newly occupied throughout the newly occupied (by day) area, mostly in vegetated rather than open areas. The number of birds on the point decreased by ~50 %, especially in the air. These may have become part of the group in the new area or may have gone to sea. Birds sitting down on road and left of transmitter before dark. February 25 - ~60 Birds on islet during morning. Five eggs in Plot No. 1. February 26 - Two eggs in Plot No. 1. Population on north point has stabilized, no longer moving inward. Many eggs there as well as around plots 1, 2 and 3 and all along above Brown Boobies. February 27 - Population in area of Plot 1 stabilizing - very few birds in air there compared to other areas. Large concentration in air between transmitter, frigates and boobies. February 28 - 18,000± 3,000 sitting during day. 1/4 - 1/3 ? of these eggs. 50,000 present at night. Many eggs on slope north of Brown Boobies. One new egg in plot 1; original five broken. February 29 - Population in area of Plot No. 2. 19 eggs - B 1 plot 4 stabilizing. Many eggs between frigates and shore. March 1 - Birds moving into area between plots 1 and 2 and road to dump. More coming into area on south shore also. 30,000± 5000 sitting by 6:30 p.m. Peal arrival 6:30 - 7:30 - five to six hundred per five minutes - 6 - 7200 1 hour (x 2 ?) Twenty-nine eggs in plot 4. Birds sitting in plot 6. Very few birds come in to north point at night. Three new eggs plot 1.

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 Sooty Terns Cont. March 2 - Three eggs in plot 1. Thirty in plot 4. Number still increasing by day in area along road to dump. Very few more birds seem to come in to the north point at night. March 3 - Plot 1 3 and 8 = 11 2 6 3 8 4 30 35 Area B - 19 Birds have moved across road to dump, now occupying area between it and shore. Very few eggs, so far. Pushing across slope from both sides; eggs up to nests 24 and 8. March 5 - Birds spreading downward and outward on slope leading to peninsula. Those on peninsula may be moving inward some more. Patch of Sesuvium between plots 5 and 6 occupied during the morning, no eggs. Birds solid across lsope with Brown Boobies. First eggs in plots 5 and 6. The other plots are remaining fairly constant. No losses, 1 - 2 additions. One egg each in 5 and 6 by 1100; 7 and 2, respectively, by 7 p.m. Birds still occupying entire slope. March ;6 - Banded 600 on north peninsula on eggs. Many new eggs in all plots. Birds solid on road to dump. March 7 - Many eggs right in road to dump, also many across it. Birds sitting and beginning to lay on open area where dump was situated. Very rapid and sudden movement into this area. Many birds also sitting on Tribulus on North side of transmitter building. Few eggs so far. 300 banded in area of plots 1 and 2.

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 21 March 8 - 600 banded on eggs between plot 1 and road to dock. March 9 - Birds solid in former dump areas and to left of transmitter. Only open areas remaining - right of transmitter, both sides of road to transmitter, innermost half of north peninsula. Egg numbers in plots seem to be steadying around 50 except in No. 6. March 10 - Eggs in two new areas - left of transmitter building to edge of road and adjacent to road between plots 1 and 2. Birds sitting to right of transmitter and a few on the road near the building. March 11 - Birds on eggs all the way back to the dock. March 12 - Yesterday the birds were 20 feet away from the antenna enclosure and had eggs to the edge of this line. Today they had filled in another 10 feet but no eggs had appeared yet. March 14 - Birds and eggs right to antenna enclosure. They are advancing slightly down the north side of the causeway also. March 18 - Egg laying seems to have definitely slowed. A few more are laid each day, especially around the transmitter building (some on the road today), but no major influxes have occurred since the birds filled in this area. A few more eggs turn up each day in the study plots; this is probably representative of the situation on most of the island now. The birds moved inward on the north peninsula only about 15 feet more, and slowly; plots No. 6, which was on the edge of the group when it appeared to have stopped and had no eggs. Now has 21. The birds may be moving outward onto the peninsula slowly now.

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 22 March 19 - Fifty to sixty chicks on the north peninsula; on the north side of the group, when the first eggs were laid February 18. Six chicks on islet 6 p.m., ten more eggs. March 24.- Birds have spread across north peninsula from inland. Still filling in slowly behind the others on both sides of the road. Many eggs hatching around plot No. 1. Common Noddy - Banding 753-25501 - 504 January 14, 1964 506 - 521 " 523 - 525 " 526 - 528 19 533 - 536 " 541 - 546 February 3 47 - 54 4 55 - 69 5 70 - 83 10 584 - 600 11 25601 - 15 12 16 - 42 13 43 - 44 19 45 - 48 March 10 Eggs; release at sea 0700 3-12 49 - 77 12 25678 - 25700 13 25701 - 14 " 15 - 28 14 29 - 43 16 44 - 72 17 73 29 74 - 800 31 25801 - 06 April 8 Islet East 07 - 12 9 " , no eggs 13 - 16 " 17 - 21 eggs 22 - 42 13 (22 - 25 Is.) 34 - 5A 43 - 50 20 51 .. 60 21

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 Returns 753-24708 J February 3, 1964 30289 J 4 196 J " 147 12 723-61999 13 753-30142 J March 12 24829 J 13 30342 J " 30348 J " 30324 14 30156 J 16 30232 J " 30127 J April 8 islet; nesting 160 J " " " 198 J 9 " " Common Noddy - Banding 753-25861 - 80 April 23, 1964 nesting Common Noddy - Notes January 18 - First egg, on islet. February 1 - Population ~400, only at night. February 8 - First time numbers present during day - ~25 on islet during morning. February 10 - Population during day suddenly rose to 150+ on islet, in two groups. One group on rocks, other on slope around nesting bird. February 11 - 250± atoll on islet 3 p.m. Feburary 13 - Courtship behavior on islet. February 15 - 50± on southeast shore during day for first time. February 17 - Four to five eggs on islet. February 18 - Small number on north point among Sooties. Also three groups of 15 - 20 each along west shore of point and groups on concrete guy wire bases. Individuals on pilings off southeast shore. Population has declined on islet, seems to have spread out to these other locations. More present at night in grass around SE edge. Courtship feeding on N point.

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 24 Common Noddy - Notes cont. February 20 - ~100 on islet 2:30 p.m. and ~200 on southeast shore and into center of island (a few) and ~100 on north point (all around perimeter, wires, abutments. Total 400 - 500. February 22 - Seven eggs on islet February 23 - 15 eggs on islet February 24 - 20 eggs onislet February 25 - ~250 birds onislet during morning. February 27 - New egg, on Southeas shore. Possibly 1 to 2 others on north point. February 28 - Estimate population 400 during day. 700 at night. February 29 - 26 eggs on islet and one on southeast shore. March 2 - New egg, on north shore. March 3 - Area B - 3\4 eggs ; Southeast shore - 3 North point - 6 North shore 1 Total 44 March 4 - Two more eggs on southeast shore, four more on north peninsula. March 5 - Twenty-one new eggs on islet, total 53. March 6 - Five new eggs on south shore, nine new on north peninsula. March 9 - Eggs being laid in a new area as of today, on the east side of the north peninsula. Laying continues on the west side and on the south shore, with a few inland a bit, surrounded by sooties, and on the islet. March 11 - Eggs being laid on slope leading to peninsula now. Over 200 eggs total.

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 April 1 - Three new chicks on islet. A few eggs pipped along south shore. April 7 - First chick on peninsula. Gray-back Tern - Banding 753-25522 January 14, 1964 29 19 642-01050 February 11 52 - 59 12 60 - 69 13 70 - 72 March 10 Eggs, north point; release at sea 0700 12 March 73 12 74 - 76 13 78 - 88 " 89 - 90 14 92 - 100 " 642-01106 Adult - Unidentified April 8, 1964 Islet 07 L 13 " 08 L 15 " 11 L 21 " Gray-back Tern - Notes January 2 - First two of the year seen. January 18 - 35 - 40 roosting on north point at night. January 28 - One egg on range light. January 31 - 40+ present, roosting nightly on north point. February 1 - Two (Possibly three) eggs on lagoon end of old dock. Only one attended. February 3 - Egg on rangelight gone. One new egg on dock (total three or four). Birds changed roosting site from north point to dock - about fifty at 1 a.m. February 4 - Birds remained on dock through morning. February 6 - Population up to ~75. Birds continue to remain through morning, leave about 12. Some have moved to the islet. February 10 - Population 110+ today. About 15 still present 3 p.m.

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 26 February 11 - Three new eggs, on islet. February 12 - Fourth egg on islet. Total 8. February 13 - Six eggs now on islet. Total 12 February 17 - 22 " " " , eight on dock. February 20 - 18? " " " , fifteen on dock. February 22 - 32 " " " , nineteen " " February 25 - ~30 birds on dock, 50+ on islet during morning. February 27 - Thirty-three eggs on islet, twenty-four on dock. Many old ones missing however, perhaps due to high winds. Three eggs on north pt. February 28 - Estimate population 300, half on dock and half on islet. February 29 - Sixty eggs on islet, twenty-nine on dock, nine on N pt. March 3 - First chick, from egg laid on dock Feb. 1 - thirty-one days incubation. Eggs Area B - 12 and 55 Dock 28 E point 2 (new) N point 21 (new nest) 118 March 4 - Second chick on dock. One egg on the soil near the edge of the rocks on the north shore, by the red-foot nest. Two more on the north peninsula. March 5 - Seventy-seven eggs on south side of islet for first time. Two eggs on east point gone, probably broken by waves. Eggs continue to be laid at three areas on the islet, and on the north shore and north peninsula dn dock. Over 150 eggs now present. March 12 - Seventeen eggs lost, most of them in the forward area on the west shore of the islet, probably due to high wind and tid in storm of March 10. March 14 - Sixty-nine of 155 eggs lost due to very high tides. Most

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 27 of these were lost on the islet; all twenty-seven of those in the forward area lost, plus all of those below the frigates and half of the number on the west side. One chick on islet. Ten of twenty-five eggs on north peninsula also lost since March 9. March __--Third chick on dock. March 18 - Fourth and fifth chicks on dock. March 19 - Second chick on islet, plus thirty eggs. March 24 - Eggs continue to be lost on penninsula due to high tides. Only seven now left on western shore. Still increasing slowly on north shore and dock. March 26 - Only nine eggs remain on islet, two on north peninsula, due to high tides probably resulting from full moon. Hawaiian Noddy - Banding 753-25505 January 14, 1964 530 - 32 19 537 February 3 Immature 538 - 40 642-91077 March 13 91 14 642-01103, 04 April 1 12, 13 " 21 E Red-tailed Tropicbird - Banding 565-12025, 26 - Adult - Unbunker February 4, 1964 27 " " nest No. 1 February 6, 1964 28 " " " 2 " 11 29 " " " 1 " 30 " " dock - nest No. 3 February 16, 1964 31 " " fuel tank 19 32-50 " " Johnston " 51-55 " " " 21 56 " " dock 22 57 " " Area A 23 58 " " Nest No. 3 25 59 " " Scaevola - D.C. 26 60-66 " " Johnston 27 67 " " Scaevola - D.C. March 4

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 28 565-12068 - Adult - U Scaevola - D. C. March 4, 1964 69 " " Johnston 5 70 " " " " 71 " " " " 72 " " " " 73 " " " " 74-76 " " " 13 77-79 " " " 19 80-84 " " " 28 85-90 " " " April 3 91-95 " " " 10 96-97 " " " 17 E Red-tailed Tropicbird - Notes January 19 - One nest with two eggs behind transmitter building. Bird pin, January 29 - Incubating bird seems very sickly - crawling with ants, eyes clouded over. February 2 - New bird inclucating - white, different voice. Maximum number seen on Johnston Island - seven. Two birds banded in bunker, one reported under fuel tank. Returns 565-12013 February 16, 1934 - dock 20 23 Scaevola 01 23 Scaevola 17 March 6 Scaevola - D. C. 22 14 " 23 19 16 April 3 Johnston 15 14 Fuel tank, E 31 17 Johnston, E. February 8 - Eight on Johnston Island, all in air at north end of runway. February 10 - Second nest found behind northeast slope. February 13 - " " deserted. February 16 - Egg in nest No. 2 broken by bird leaving nest. February 15 - New nest, under dock. Also 5 nests with eggs found on

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 29 Johnston Island, under vegetation near FMR radar antennas. Eight more birds in air - probably three more nests somewhere. Population at least thirteen. February 17 - Egg in nest under dock. February 19 - One bird under fuel tank again. Banded nineteen on Johnston, Island, 11 on eggs, three pair. February 21 - Banded five more on Johnston. Johnston Island population at least thirty-two. February 25 - New nest with egg in bunker - bird banded there February 4. Three birds at nest 3 - 565-12013, 30, 58.* *incubating. February 27 - Banded seven on Johnston. Two new nests with eggs. One bird painted on Sand flying over Johnston Island. Three nests with eggs on Sand. Six birds investigating Scaevola bushes in front of D.C. shop during afternoons. February 29 - 565-12013 on nest 3. 565-12025 on nest 4 (bunker). Head painted. Changeover on nest 1. (?) March 3 - Nest 1 unattended 2 p.m. Many Sooties on eggs in immediate vicinity. March 4 - Two banded, one return, all by D.C. shop. Nest 1 still unattended. No. 26 on nest 4. March 5 - One observed sitting in a hole in the face of the southeast shore, 11 a.m. Five banded on Johnston. Four chicks - two small, dark. One half again as large, dark, fourth same size as this but light.

Aerman, Kenneth 1964 March 15 - No. 26 on nest. March 13 - Johnston - fourteen in air, on ground. Four chicks still present. Their voices are exact miniatures of their parents. March 18 - One new nest, total down to twelve now. Four chicks doing well, growing very rapidly. Sixteen to eighteen in air, sixteen on ground. March 19 - One bird which was incubating two eggs last week had one remaining today, with a dead chick beside it. March 28 - Johnston - Seven flying, twelve on ground, three old chicks, three new chicks, three new eggs; banded five birds. Collected one dead chick which had hatched since the 19th. Seven active nests on south side of runway. No adults with two of old chicks. These chicks now more than 1/3 grown (hatched between February 27 and March 5). Upper back feathers and wing feathers appearing. March 20 - 22 - New nest, under Scaevola by powerhouse. ____incubating. March 30 - First chick on Sand - under dock - laid 2/17 : 42 nd day. April 3 - Johnston - Fifteen on ground, three old chicks, two new eggs, four or five small chicks. Many eggs have been broken even though well sheltered. We hope our activities have not attracted attention to the nest sites resulting in disturbance. April 8 - Chick under dock dead. No apparent cause. April 9 - Egg in bunker hatched. April 10 - Johnston Island - Ten adults on ground, only three chicks present (one old, one new), four eggs. We were told that someone took the other two chicks from the PMR area. Eggs are still being lost and apparently some of the habitat is being destroyed still.

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 31 April 14 - Two new nests, one under fuel tank and one under Scaevola at the corner of the powerhouse. Two birds also investigating a small Messerschmidtia by the small antenna at the barracks end of the causeway. One bird flew out from under the Amaranthus in which the Hawaiian Noddies are nesting when I disturbed it. April 15 - 565-12017 on nest at corner of powerhouse, 565-12015 under fuel tank, 12022 on nest in front of D.C. shop - all painted blue on head and breast. The bird under the fuel tank left and did not return. April 16 - Egg under tank broken by early morning, no sign of eitherbird. April 17 - Johnston - Thirteen adults on the gound, including a new return from Sand (565-12031) on a new egg by the transmitting building. Three chicks, one nearly fully feathered, and four new eggs plus four old. Fourteen adults flying. April 21 - New nest, in hole in bank on sout shore. Unbanded bird incubating. Both parents had left the chick in the bunker for the first time. Red-footed Booby - Banding 737-44130 I-U January 30, 1964 31 S-U February 12 35 I-U " 36 I-U " 37 I-U " 38 A-U " 39 I-U " 40 " " 41 S-U " 42 S-U " 43 S-U " 44 S - U "

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 Red-footed Booby - Bonding cont. 737-44145 Immature - Unknown February 12, 1964 46 Adult - Unknown " 47 Subadult - Unknown " 48 Immature - "d 49 Subadult - " 13 50 Adult - Unknown 25 51 Immature - " " 52 Immature - " 26 53 - Adult - " " Nest 2 54 - Adult - " " " 55-58 Immature - Unknown " 60 " " " 29 61 " " March 5 65 " " April 1 70-76 " " 13 77 Audit - Q ? 16 egg 6 Returns 737-44101 Adult - Unknown April 3, 1964 Nest 1 125 " " 12 " 2 115 " " 17 4 103 " " 14 5 107 " " 16 8 Red-footed Booby - Notes January - February 15 - Population fluctuates 1800 - 2300 nightly, may get as high as 3000. February 4 - One trying to build a nest 2 feet off ground on reinforcing rods projecting from broken concrete by near guy wire, southeast shore. February 10 - Same bird continues to try and establish nest. February 15 - A second bird sitting daily between Frigates and Brown Boobies. February 19 - Nest seems established on rubber at water's edge. Another site under construction on piling off southeast shore. Occupied first by white adult, then subadult or brown phase. February 23 - First egg, in nest on hill above Frigates. Scanty nest, acutally just a flattened area.

Ameraman, Kenneth 1964 February 25 - About twenty birds sitting in vicinity of nest one (on hill) by day - many immatures. February 26 - New nest under construction on northwest shore on broken concrete and rods. March 2 - Nest along east shore has been washed away. March 3 - Mate to bird A (737-44150) on nest 1 - (737-44101) - red head (2). March 15 - Third egg (nest No. 3) March 17 - Three new eggs, including one in nest on north shore (4). March 20 - Eggs three and four missing. April 21 - Egg 2 pipped. Egg 1 hatched, apparently 7 to 10 days ago. April 16 - EGG in nest No. 8. Blue-faced Booby - Banding 737-44132 - Subadult - unknown February 12, 1964 33 adult - male " 34 adult - female " 59 " unknown 26 62 subadult - unknown march 14 63 subadult - unknown 28 64 adult - ? 29 66 subadult - unknown April 8 islet 67 adult - female " " 68 adult - ? 9 " ; no L leg 69 subadult - unknown " Recoveries 737-37103 Adult - unknown February 13, 1964 44300 " ? April 8 islet 558-82880 subadult - unknown April 8, 1964 " Whale, FFS 909 " " " Blue-faced Booby February 15 - Irregular. One to four birds on rocks by whip antenna on various days, only late afternoon - early evening. One to three on islet after dark on occasion.

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 34 March 11 - No change. One on island near red-feet occasionally. One on islet 1 p.m. Tonight. March 29 - High tides seem to have forced the birds onto the islet. Seven present there March 28, five tonight. April 8 - Population has increased eight to ten. April 13 - Eleven or twelve present. They appear late afternoon - early evening on rocks by whip antenna and guy wire bases. Then many shift to islet after dark. April 4 - Fifteen counted at 1930. Brown Booby - Banding 737-440 Age and Sex Number Nest number Date 40 Adult ♀ 3 2 February 24, 1964 41 " ♂ 6 12 " 42 " ♂ 2 5 " 43 " ♂ 12 9 " 44 " ♂ 14 10 " 45 " ♂ 11 1 25 46 " ♂ 18 6 29 47 " ♂ 5 8 March 3 48 " ♂ 4 12 " 49 " ♂ 11 2 " 50 " ♀ 21 " 51 " ♀ 22 " 52 " ♀ 11 9/39 " 53 " ♀ 3/20 "/26 54 " ♀ 9 ? 4 55 " ♀ 26 12 56 " ♂ 33 " 57 " ♂ 30 " 58 " ♂ 6 16 59 " ♂ 11 " 60 " ♂ 22 " 61 " ♀ 24 " 62 " ♀ 16 " 63 " ♀ 23 " 64 " ♂ 29 " 65 " ♂ 34 " 66 " ♂

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 35 Recoveries 737-44008 Adult ♀ Number 1 Nest No. 5 February 24, 1964 20 "♂ 10 4 " 697-69607 "♂ 8 7 " 737-44015 "♀ 17 8 26 23 "♀ 9 14 March 4 17 "♀ 14 19 12 28 J "♂ 19 " 38 J "♂ 32 " 31 J "♂ 35 13 33 J Sa U 35 14 06 J A ♀ 32 16 25 Adult ♀ 19 " 12 "♂ 17 14 26 35 "♂ 14 30 "" 13 29 "" 31 04 "" 37 697-69606 T Adult ♀ 35 737-44026 "" 37 Brown Booby - Banding 737-44067 Adult ♀ Nest 27 (Is) March 26, 1964 68 "♂ 16 " 69 "♂ 18 " 70 "♂ 15 " 71 "♀ 31 " 72 "♂ 36 " 73 "♀ 33 " 74 "♀ 30 " 75 "♀ 34 " 76 "♀ 26 April 13 islet 77 "♂ 27 " 78 "♀ 16 14 " 79 "♀ 13 " 80 "♀ - " 81 "♂ 38 " new mate of 44053, of old 9 82 "♂ 21 " 83 "♀ 10 " 84 "♀ 1 " = 44045 85 "♂ 29 20 86 "♂ 25 21 87 "♀ 15 " 88 "♀ 18 "

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 36 Brown Booby - Notes January 8 - Beginning of courtship and nest building. January 23 - First egg. January 29 - Second egg in same nest. February 1 - Second nest, with egg. No. 2 February 8. February 5 - Third nest with egg. No. 2 February 11. February 6 - Fourth nest with egg. February 11 - Nest five with egg. February 12 - Nests 6 and 7 with eggs. February 24 - Five banded, three returns. February 25 - One banded, one returns. Fourteen nests. February 29 - Banded two, one return. March 1 - Nineteen nests, thirty-three eggs. March 3 - Twenty-three nests, thirty-eight eggs on island. One incubating a Sooty egg. One nest on islet, on slope, with a Noddy egg. March 4 - Different ? on nest 9; bill painted. March 5 - Two more nests on islet; all three have eggs. March 10 - First chick - egg No. 1. March 13 - Eggs 2 and 3 hatched. March 15 - Thirty-five nests, sixty-three eggs, three chicks. March 19 - Nest 9 abandoned since March 15. The eggs were out of the nest that day, down the hill. We put them back but to no avail. March 25 - Nest three abandoned after the death of the single chick.

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 April 11 - Both eggs were found missing in nest 33 on April 9. The male has continued to stand by the nest site so egg No. 28 from nest 13 (popped) was placed in the nest. April 12 - Bonin found the egg 2 feet down the slope from the nest. He replaced it again but the male carefully picked it up and moved it out of the nest. The egg was again replaced and again removed. The chick was then replaced in nest 13 (after being removed from its shell) and was accepted. Thinking that the fact that the egg was a piped one might have disturbed the bird, another was tried but it also was rejected. The nest is gradually becoming scattered and the bird will probably soon leave. The chick from nest 1 has been sitting about 2 feet up from the nest most of the time this week and now has a semblance of a nest on the new spot. Female No. 11 was present at the new nest 38, begun on the 8th or 9th. This bird was formerly from nest 9 and apparently has remated since the male has no painted number. Nest 9 was deserted March 12 ± 4 days; relaying occurred 27± 4 days later. W had found another female on nest 9, apparently incubating. Perhaps this was related to the subsequent desertion, or perhaps the male did not return, for this or some other reason.

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 38 Greater Frigatebird - Banding 737-44512 Adult σ March 3, 1964 Egg 49 13 " " 14 " " 4 15 " φ 18 " σ 6 19 " α" 20 " φ 21 " α 8 22 " σ 23 " α 10 24 " φ 12 25 " α 14 26 " 27 " φ 15 28 " 29 " α 17 30 " α 20 31 " Unknown 20 32 " σ 22 Egg 215 33 " σ 34 " σ April 16 35 " σ 36 " σ Returns 737-44379 Adult σ March 3, 1964 32 " " 4 405 J " φ 9 80 J " σ 13 697-69602 " σ 14 737-44389 " σ 19 66 Imm. Unknown April 16, 1964 485 Adult σ " Greater Frigatebird Nesting data - charts March 3 - Egg No. 18, Area B, hatched. Naked chick being brooded by σ. Egg laid January 7 - 57 days incubation. Banded two today. March 7 - Chick was down on the rocks below the nest. From its position it is doubtful that it had been pushed or dropped there as the parent took off at our approach. It was also quite cold so it must have

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 39 been there for some time. We replaced it in the nest. March 9 - Chick dead by nest. March 15 - Total of 267 eggs laid so far in area A, 58 in area B (islet), of which 97 and 6 remain, respectively. March 31 - After not disturbing the birds in Area A for one week 14 eggs were missing or broken (2 of which we removed because they were not being incubated) and 13 new ones had been laid. Most of the losses were in older eggs; only three from 242 on. Probably many more of the old eggs will be lost or will not hatch because they already have been cracked or have gone bad due to not being incubated. Hopefully losses will remain low in the newer ones however. April 9 - Since last check 21 eggs lost, 34 laid, 99 total present. Losses continue to be heavy; 13 of the missing eggs were higher than 242. (Area A) The first week of March 42 eggs were laid (163-204) and 19 lost. Fifty-two were laid the second week (205-256), 31 the third (257-287), and the last (288-309) [March 22-31]. Losses for the same periods were 23, 30, 29, respectively (18 lost March 22-24). April 15 - First chick in Area A - egg No. 129, laid February 17 - 55 ± 2 days incubation. We have decided to check the colony every 5 days now. April 20 - The second chick was found in Area A (main colony) - probably egg 140, laid ___ days incubation. However, while we were checking the rest of the eggs a female swooped down and carried off the first chick, dropping at rear the water's edge, and then another or the same bird got the new chick as well. Both died, apparently from the impact; we took them as specimens. Eggs in Area A and 49 in Area B were pipped.

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 Hawaiian Noddy - Notes February 15 - Population has remained constant since late December. Six to eight birds present at night only (?). February 20 - Nine present on north point 2:30 p.m. At least one pair (?) seemed to be going yhrough courtship. One would weak around the other, shuffling sideways at times, and opening its beak as wide as possible in a sort of jerky "yawn." This bird had black legs and feet, the other's were browner. February 24 - Single birds and pairs sitting in Amaranthus bushes at various times during the day. February 27 - At least fourteen birds on island. Four on north point, ten in Amaranthus between Sooty plost 1 and 2. At least six of these paired. March 2 --Four birds on nests in Amaranthus near Sooty Plot No. 1. March 10 - First egg. March 11 - Second egg. Laid between 11:45 - 1 p.m. March 12 - Third and fourth egg. Four nests. March 19 -- Fifth egg March 24 - Sixth egg. April 1 - Two or three sitting in Amaranthus opposite the transmitter building. April 8 - Seventh egg, same area. Egg No. 1 pipped. April 9 - Egg No. 2 pipped; No. 1 still has not hatched. April 12 - Neither egg has yet hatched. No eggs as yet beside the transmitter building.

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 April 13 - Egg No. 1 hatched. April 14 - Egg No. 2 hatched 1130. Three and 4 pipped. April 15 - Egg No. 3 hatched before 1400. April 16 - Egg No. 4 hatched. Christmas Island Shearwater - Banding 514-28020, 21 - plywood ? February 12, 1964 22 grass, N site 19 23, 24 concrete slab 18 25 " 23 26 East beach March 6 27, 28 Concrete slab 14 29 Slab, north beach 29 30 south of bunker 31 Christmas Island Shearwater - Notes February 3 - First two appeared on island, or slope near brown boobies. One banded(514-10503). February 10 - At least four present on island. Two returns 514-78009, 10. February 11 - At least five present at night. New return 514-78006. Two present during the day, near plywood. February 12 - Banded two new birds - 514-78020, 21. February 15 - At least 13 on island. Up to ten present during day. Courtship activity. February 18 - Two banded 514-78023, 24. February 19 - One banded - 514-78022. February 23 - " February 27 - No birds present during day, two new ones present by 11 p.m. February 28 - All absent again during whole day. New recovery 6:30 p.m.

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 February 29 - Numbers 14 and 16 (new) sitting together on top of hill above Brown Boobies in mid-afternoon. One present under concrete slab 7 p.m., one flying around slope, one seen flying in from middle of causeway. March 5 - Four under concrete slab 1100. March 14 - Six by concrete slab, two unbanded. Have also noticed that of two pair occupying the site up to now. Two have been under the slab and two outside for the past few nights, perhaps in preparation for egg-laying. March 25 - A pair had been present under the slab on the north shore during the day for one to two days but were discouraged by high tides. March 29 - First eggs - one under concrete slab on east shore, one under plywood. Binion said he saw pairs sitting outside each location late last night. Banded one bird by slab on north beach; at least two more unbanded on island. March 30 - Probably another egg under the concrete slab on the east shore, but the bird is too far back to reach. April 12 - High tides have apparently destroyed two eggs under the concrete slab on theast shore of the peninsula. Christmas Island Shearwater Recoveries 544-10503 February 3, 1964 514-78003 March 17, 1964 514-78009 " 10 11 11 10 06 11 04 13 08 " 13 " 05 15 15 " 02 26 16 28 14 29

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 Wedgetail Shearwater- Banding 615-01014, 15 Adult - Unknown March 12, 1964 16- 18 " " 15 19 -23 " " 14 24 - 26 " " 15 27 - 35 " " 16 36 - 47 " " 17 48 - 58 " " 18 59- 77 " " 20 78- 100 " " 24 615-01101 - 45 " " 29 (34-43 islet) 46 - 70 " " 30 71 - 79 " " April 8 (75-80 islet) 80-200 " " 9 (96-99 islet) 01201 - 61 " " 13 62 - 300 " " 15~ 01301.- 45. " " 20 Returns and Recoveries 565-12334 Adult - Unknown (L) March 11, 1964 35 " " (d/1) " 12809 " " (L) 13 615-00790 J " " L " 00691 " " L 14 00878 " " L 15 00203 " " L " 565-12358 " " L " 12410 " " 16 92 " " " 615-00983 J " " 17 00761 J " " " 565-12369 J " " " 615-00579 J " " " 563-12782 J " " " 615-00568 J " " " 565-12711 J " " " 12467 " " Y " 846 J " " " 615-00617 J " " 18 00753 J " " " 366 J " " " 565-12462 J " " " 733 J " " " 154 J " " " 865 J " " " 969 J " " " 424 J " " " 419 " " " 255 " " " 615-00878 J " " "

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 Returns and Recoveries - Shearwater' March 24, 1964 565-12515 137 " 414 J" 401 20 129 " 639 J " 219 " 615-00555 J 301 J " 432 J " 673 J " 675 " 565-12706 71 J 24 537 J " 214 " 60 " 420 " 65 " 615-00549 J 718 J " 25 J " 49 J " 103 J D Wedge-tailed Shearwater - Notes March 11 - First birds noted on island (3). Single birds, sitting quietly on the ground. Two in Lepturus below Sooties, one on pond by bunker with Sooties. March 12 - Three again present, two different. March 14 - Birds arrive after dark, between 8 and 11. March 15 - Eight returns; thirteen banded so far - total 21. The same birds are not present each night howeaver. In most cases we have found them once. March 16 - About 20 on the island 2300-2400. Banded nine, three returns. Two were heard calling for the first time.

Amerman, Kenneth 1964 March 17 - Twenty-five to thirty present 2200-2400. Several sitting amongs Sooties but fairly near the edges of groups, along the southwest borders of the Sooty populations. A few on North side near Red-footed Booby nest 4, and many on open ground just south of bunker. March 25 - At least ten pairs sitting at various spots on the periphery of the island - some by bunker, some by Noddies on south shore, some on north beach west of Red-foot - At midmorning. A few were in burrows. We are finding several in burrows at night now. 100+ present each night now, still not = the same birds each night. One was present under the sidewalk by the transmitter building all day yesterday. Some birds arriving well before dark 7:15 - 7:30. March 29 - 150+ nightly. Many birds we have handled are around but we can't tell now how many from each previous night are present the nest. We wandered out to the islet, found 26 returns and banded ten. Banded 35 more on the rest of the island. Several pairs remain around nearly all morning now and a few into early afternoon. Many have returned by 7 p.m., a few around 6 - 6:30. April 6 - At least a few birds apparently remain all day, in burrows and a few on the beach by the bunker. They may leave for an hour or so between 3 and 6 o'clock, and may be feeding just outside the reef as Dave and I noted them doing on the fishing trip. Nightly population 200+.

Amerman, Kenneth 1963 July 21--USCG LORAN Station, Sand I., Johnston I. Atoll Left Honolulu 0700 via MATS. Arrived Johnston I. N 10:15, arrived Sand I. N 11:30. Amerson and Wilz showed us around, explained things. Birds nesting in vegetation at East end of island, all around transmitter building. Sooty Terns most abundant species present--Amerson says 200,000, though they seem to be decreasing rapidly. A few with eggs, chicks of all stages. None banded yet beyond antenna building. Common Niddy--around perimeter of island and on sand spit especially. Many of guy wires and concrete piers in daytime; many more come in at night to guy wires, acc. to Amerson. Frigates present, nesting, with chicks. Red-footed Booby--with chicks Brown Booby--with chicks, most more fully developed than Red-feet. Hawaiian Noddy--a few, on nests 8 - 12 " off ground in hedge-like bushes; some with eggs. Red-tailed Tropicbird--Six adults, two chicks seen. Acc--to Amerson. chicks nearly ready to leave. Grey-backed Tern--a few Wedge-tailed Shearwater--many burrows, many eggs, no chicks yet. July 23 Wandering tattler--1 in winter, 1 in breeding plumage. Turnstone--flock of four

Amerman, Kenneth 1963 July 24 -- Turnstone: flock of five July 29 - RTTB chick under tank left today. Sooties extend about 60 feet less down road now than at our arrival. Noddy Tern--I estimate 400-500 present in daytime. About twenty eggs and twenty chicks in various stages seen, all on sand spit. They are larger than Sooty Terns, with thicker legs, longer claws (?), heavier bill with concave curved lower mandible. They do not hold wings above back when alighting, but shake them --three times and quickly close. Sooty does not shake wings. July 31--Flock of eight Turnstones on road 7 p.m. Also one plover. August 1--Flock of ten Turnstone seen -- 10 a.m. One Bristle-thighed Curlew seen--3:30 p.m. Two plover seen 7 p.m. August 12--Left Sand 1815, MATS from Johnston 2130. Arrived in Honolulu 0015 August 13. BIRDS BANDED - SAND I. - 07/07/63 - 08/29/63 - 10/23/63 FRIGATE 737-44201 -> 47299 (4) 44301 -> 47370 (4) BROWN BOOBY 737-44001 -> 44039 RED-FOOTED BOOBY 737-44101->44126 MASKED BOOBY 737-44300, 44400 SOOTY TERN 743-72001 -> 74000 753-1001 -> 21300 -> 24700 + 59 WEDGE-TAILED SHEARWATER 565-12101 -> 12800 -> 13000 615-100001 -> 101000

Amerman, Kenneth 1963 RED-TAILED TROPICBIRD 565-12001--12024 XMAS I. SHEARWATER 514-78001--78019 COMMON NODDY 753-30001--30100 (locals) HAWAIIAN NODDY 642-01001, 01002, 01003 August 28--Sand Island, Johnston Island Atoll Arrived here 11:15 a.m. Departed Washington D. C. 8:30 a.m. August 26 aboard United 827. Arrived in San Francisco 10:40 a.m. (Pacific time). departed 11:30 a.m. Arrived in Honolulu 1:30 p.m. (Honolulu time). Departed Hickam AFB 0700 via MATS, Aug. 28. Binion and Ken brought me up to date on activities here. They left with me bands, pliers, batteries, gloves, lights, binoculars, microscope, knee pads, banding schedules, stationary and correspondence file. August 29 Binion and Ken left Sand at 11 a.m. I inventoried materials, finished unpacking, and read over all correspondence and instructions. August 30 One Golden Plover found in mist net. Finally extricated after some time, banded and tagged. Will try leaving mist net at ground level; also may try decoys. Banded 100 Sooties - slow going. * 1 Semi-palmed plover seen on sand spit by old dock - 4 p.m. Flew off. Succesful in calling them down close enough to net. Shearwaters Leave around dawn, nearly all have gone by 7:30 a.m.

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Amerman, Kenneth 1963 August 31 Banded 200 Sooty Terns. Semi-palmated plover still at same spot. Two fairy Terns flew over twice. One Frigate chick (F2) dead in bad condition. Shorebirds-- 5 + Golden Plover, 20 - 30 Burnstone. 2 Tattlers. September 1 Banded 300 Sooty Terns. I estimate 5-6000, perhaps up to 10,000 at night. Between 1 and 2000 in daytime (?) Definite change in Shearwater behavior since chicks are out. Formerly, one adult in burrow around 7 p.m. Now, none present until dusk: (between 7:30 and 8 p.m.). I have not seen them enter burrows to feed chicks. Six chicks, one unhatched egg, in ten marked nests. Semi-plover still there. Will try to collect it tomorrow. September 2--Semi-palmated plover appears to have gone. September 3--Banded 300 Sooties. Three Fairy Terns flew over several times in the morning. Almost succeeded in calling them down close enough to net. Shearwaters leave around dawn, nearly all have gone by 7:30 a.m. Some are in the burrows at this time. They apparently continue to moan all night, right up to the time they leave in the morning. One ruddy turnstone was found in the mist net this morning, in bad shape. Both wings rubbed raw. I let it go and found it dead later. Several of the sailors reported what must have been a Bristle-thighed Curlew today. I did not see it. Other shorebirds--one flock of 15 Turnstone, 7 - 10 plover, 1-2 tattlers.

Amerman, Kenneth 1963 September 4--Banded 400 Sooties. Those along east shore of island seem to feed earlier than those closer to antenna building or on north corner. When starting work around 8 a.m. everyday, none will disgorge for about first hour. Those that first do seem to give up fish much more than squid. Fairy Terns (one to three) are regular visitors, fly over three to four times every day. Somtimes roost for short periods on antennas. Always flying toward northeast. Some shearwaters still present as late as 9 a.m. September 5--Banded three hundred Sooties. Shorebirds--one flock nineteen Turnstone, two tattlers, five plus golden plover. September 6--Did four hundred Sooties. Much easier to catch them in morning anywhere. Many more present then. Much easier to catch them along east shore than further inland, among patcher of bare ground. Most difficult of all on slope of north point. One Red-tailed Tropicbird flew over yesterday, two today; first I had seen them since I returned. Shorebirds--one flock twenty Turnstone, may be more (+10 ?), 5 + plover, 1 tattler. September 7--One Red-tailed Tropicbird flew over several times, calling-- once after dark. September 8--Made observations on numbers and breeding status. Sooties--about 1500 present in daytime, 4-5000 at night. Very few chicks.

Location SANDI, JOHNSTON IS. ATOLLS, PACIFIC OCEAN Observer AMERMAN Date 09-15-63 Time 1500 to 2400 Weather SPECIES Abundance Breeding Remarks 1-10 10-100 100-1000 1000+ Nests Eggs Young Laysan Albatross Black-footed Albatross Wedge-tailed Shearwater √ √ √ May be from 1200-2000 Christmas I. Shearwater 2 Last seen - 3 on Aug 31 Audubon's Shearwater Bonin I. Petrel Phoenix I. Petrel Bulwer's Petrel Sooty Petrel Red-tailed Tropicbird √ 1-5, nearly daily visitors White-tailed Tropicbird ? none seen Masked Booby √ 2 - occ. visits Brown Booby √ √ 1 75 ± 10 Red-footed Booby √ √ 1 200-300 Great Frigatebird √ 600+ Golden Plover √ 5-10 Ruddy Turnstone √ 2.5± Wandering Tattler √ 1-2 Sanderling Bristle-thighed Curlew √ occ. visitor; total of 4 records Sooty Tern √ 5000+ Gray-backed Tern √ one seen on two occasions Brown-winged Tern Common Noddy √ 1500± Hawaiian Noddy √ ~15 Blue-gray Noddy Fairy Tern √ 1-5 daily visitors

Amerman, Kenneth 1963 Boobies--counted sixty-seventy-five in daytime. Most on offshore markers. Only five adults on land, and one nestling, two immatures. Estimate two-hundred to three hundred at night, many immatures. One Red-footed Booby still on egg. Noddies--1000 ± 3 p.m., most in puncture vine. Perhaps two to two times this at night, surplus on wires. Many chicks, some eggs. Frigates--thirteen nestlings. F-8 and F-17 nearby ready to fly. Estimate 200 3 p.m. One hundred on sand spit by old dock, fifty on rest of Sand, rest flying. Four hundred (estimate) at night-- antenna guy wires filled. Tropicbirds--one to two fly over once or twice a day. Fiary Terns--one to five fly over several times a day. Shearwaters--1500 (estimate). Have found no eggs--all chicks seem to have hatched before I arrived. Still hope to find some to start series. Shorebirds--Twenty-two to thirty Turnstone, five to eight Golden Plover, one to two tattlers. Have seen no sign of banded plover--has either left or died; probably latter since it was very weak when I removed it from net. September 9--Three hundred sooties. Extremely hard to catch in daytime- 100/2 hours +. Even at night, w/o moon, get two to three of a flock and then have to move. September 10--Three hundred sooties, two frigates.

Amerman, Kenneth 1963 September 11--Message arrived 0800 that Chief Giragosian due today 1100. Did one hundred Sooties 8:30 to 10:50. Giragosian arrived --1030. Ft. Detirck wants one hundred (100 adult sooty terns, 150 shearwaters. After lunch we made up boxes and changed labels from "shearwater" to "sooty terns". Collected the terns in the afternoon, with the aid of McConnaghy and Charly Hill. All the C. G. personnel are really cooperative. They go out of their way to help us. We had enough cartons but not enough waxed inserts or dividers. We made up some more dividers and used a triple thickness of matting to replace the inserts. We began collecting shearwaters about 8:15 p.m., again with Mac and Hill helping, as well as Cuthbert. With this gleeful crew we polished off the 150 in about one hour. The Chief and I then tied up the cartons. "secured" at 2300-- September 12--Chief Giragosian departed Sand Island at 1350, with the bird shipment of one hundred terns, 150 shearwaters. Just prior to his departure a message came in requesting an additional 150 shearwaters for Dugway P. G. He sent a message back (Capt. Reeves, Hawa Sea Fron) tht this was impossible since there are no more boxes here. Camera arrived today, along with letter from S. I., copies of progress reports. Two trunks arrived September 11. Two ammo boxes arrived Sept. 10. September 13--One hundred Sooty immatures. These are harder to catch than adults--t ey will not come near me. Fly away from me when put up, unlike adults. Using disgorged squid from captured adults as bait worked some. Brist

Amerman, Kenneth 1963 Bristle-thighed Curlew seen--3 p.m. September 15--Two hundred Sooty Terns, made observations on nests and counts and prepared progress report. September 16--One hundred Sooty Terns. Bristle-thighed Curlew seen again, in puddle at this end of causeway, 1p.m. September 17--One hundred Sooties. Five red-tailed Tropicbirds flew over, one to two around several times. Bristle-thighed Curlew in puddle again 8 a.m. September 18--One hundred Sooties; three frigates banded. Shorebirds-- ten golden plover, seventeen turnstone. September 19--One hundred Sooties, one hundred shearwaters, six Frigates banded. Shipping cartons and inserts arrived. September 20--Made up boxes fro bird shipment on September 25. September 21 through 25--Banded frigates. September 26--collected and boxed 150 shearwaters for shipment. No ticks were seen. September 27--Shorebirds: twelve plover, thirteen turnstone, one tattler (0930). Bob Sundell arrived on J. I. --1230. The C124 flight on which the birds were supposed to leave was cancelled. An attempt was made to get them on the plane on which Bob came in but this failed. Bob contacted Sudduth in Honolulu--1430 and filled him in. Birds were released 1630. Three were already dead by then (18 hours after capture). Introductions were made and Bob talked with Lt. Hayes.

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Location SAND I., JOHNSON I. ATOLL, PACIFIC O. Observer AMERMAN Date SEPT 30, 63 Time to Weather Abundance Breeding SPECIES 0-1-3 001-001 + 0001 Nests Eggs Young Remarks Laysan Albatross Black-footed Albatross Wedge-tailed Shearwater ✓ ✓ ✓ 1500± ; 600± unattended Christmas I. Shearwater 0 Audubon's Shearwater Bonin I. Petrel Phoenix I. Petrel Bulwer's Petrel Sooty Petrel Red-tailed Tropicbird ✓ 1-3 fly overs almost daily White-tailed Tropicbird Masked Booby Brown Booby ✓ 7.5± Red-footed Booby ✓ 250± Great Frigatebird ✓ 600-1000 Golden Plover ✓ 12-15 Ruddy Turnstone ✓ 20-30 Wandering Tattler ✓ 1-2 seen; up to 8 reported Sanderling Bristle-thighed Curlew ✓ one found dead S. 25th; one last seen alive Sept 17 Sooty Tern ✓ 100± Gray-backed Tern 1 Brown-winged Tern Common Noddy * ✓ 1000-1500: still many eggs Hawaiian Noddy 1 may be rare; uncertain of ident. Blue-gray Noddy Fairy Tern ✓ 1-5 daily visits

Amerman, Kenneth 1963 September 28--Bob and I went on a tour of the island. Two Red-tailed Tropicbirds put on a nice display and nearly landed near the highest are, hovering--about 1 foot off the ground several times. A dead Bristle-thighed Curlew was found along the shore by the old dump. It was in very bad condition, could not be salvaged. This was reported to us by try all. He also claimed to have seen two black and white birds, different from plover or turnstone, by the signal building. He said they flew off toward Johnston. Noddy by 4 foot pipe hatched. Five adult Wedge-tails and several chicks have been found dead over the past few days. We wondered if some might be weakened ones we had released but this does not explain previous ones. New dog responsible? October 1--Sixth Progress Report submitted. October 3--Fourteen frigate chicks color tagged. A new species, tentatively identified as a pectoral sand piper, was spotted by Bob around 9 a.m. and collected by Don Beeson. It was stored in the freezer in the Chief's quarters with a golden plover found dead yesterday. Shorebirds--2 p.m.: Sixteen plover, 14 turnstone, three tattlers. Two dead immature. Sooty Terns were taken to a Mr. Chaigan of the AEC on Johnston for radioactivity content analysis. October 4--Bristle-thighed Curlew reported to us by Winchell. October 5--Curlew reported again, by Dougherty. Again we did not see it. October 7--Began banding shearwaters again with newly arrived bands. One ;hundred nestlings done--very time consuming.

Amerman, Kenneth 1965 October 8--One hundred adult shearwaters banded in area between road to dump and both shores. October 9--Two hundred adult Shearwaters banded. Many more found in area covered last night. Second hundred done in area between road to dump and x mitter bldg. A few were found with orange tags but no metal bands. October 10--Two hundred adult shearwaters done in area between road to dump and Xmitter bldg. Several more with tags and no bands found and rebanding. Leg sizes vary a good deal; some of the bands newly put on seemed as if they could slip over the foot. Five hundred adults banded in area of heaviest previous banding. Cannot estimate whether this means overlapping populations or a very large number have slipped their bands and perhaps tags as well. Total population in this area cannot be more than seven hundred to eight hundred. Population seems to fluctuate with cycle of moon. For shearwaters, lowest at time of full moon, then increases again. May merely reflect different time of returning at night--may come in later at night as moon gets higher. Bob suggests may reflect behavior of food organism. Longer feeding time for shearwaters with higher and brighter moon? For Sooty Terns, population had dwindled to -- ten in day, twenty- thirty at night. At time of full moon or just after suddenly they jumped back to about one hundred at night. October 13--Two hundred adult shearwaters banded along left side of causeway and Xmitter bldg. Finding an average of five to six per night (per 200) with tags and no bands. Six frigates banded.

Location Observer AMBAMAN SUNDELL Date OCT 13 Time to Weather SPECIES Abundance Breeding Remarks 1-10 11-100 101-1000 1000+ Eggs Young Laysan Albatross Black-footed Albatross Wedge-tailed Shearwater / / 2000t Christmas I. Shearwater Audubon's Shearwater Bonin I. Petrel Phoenix I. Petrel Bulwer's Petrel Sooty Petrel Red-tailed Tropicbird / 1-2 White-tailed Tropicbird Masked Booby Brown Booby / 50t Red-footed Booby / 1 200 - 250 Great Frigatebird / 14 500 - 600 Golden Plover / 25t Ruddy Turnstone / 40 - 50 Wandering Tattler / total of 8 reported one day; 1-3 wander; Sanderling Bristle-thighed Curlew / 1 reported Oct 4+5 Sooty Tern / 50 - 100 Gray-backed Tern Brown-winged Tern Common Noddy / 1200 - 1500 Hawaiian Noddy / 5+ Blue-grey Noddy Fairy Tern / 1-3 over Sand Restoral SANDPIMER 1 Oct 3; collected

Amerman, Kenneth 1963 October 14--Last two hundred adult Wedge-tail bands used, on left of transmitter building and in back of it. Estimate another five hundred to six hundred unbanded adults, 100-200 chicks. Therefore, nineteen hundred banded plus six hundred to eight hundred unbanded and 450 collected gives a total population of 3000± (including chicks). October 15--A semi-palmed plover was seen by Bob on the rocks behind the landing room about 9'a.m. Holmes shot it and we prepared the skin immediately. Another individual of this species was observed by me on October 5, in addition to the one present August 30 - September 1. Bob said that he saw at least sixteen Fairy Terns on Johnston this afternoon and is sure there are several more. This is more than I have ever seen but Binion's original estimate was about fifty. October 17--One Red-tailed tropicbird seen in morning. Twelve frigates banded. October 18--A pintail duck was seen swimming by the seaplane ramp, reported to us by Mc Connaghy. We observed it for a period but did not attempt to collect it. It was later reported swimming toward the other end of the island but we did not see it again. While working in the pump house a wandering tattler (rather aptly named) wandered inside, back out and in again. It was very thin and weak and could not fly, though no wings were broken. We banded it, gave it some fresh water to drink and attempted to release it at the old dock area but it died in the hand. Band was removed and not recorded.

Amerman, Kenneth 1963 October 19--Ten Frigates were banded. Also one Turnstone. October 20--Four frigates, one Red-footed Booby, forty plus noddies banded. October 21--Five frigates, one Red-footed Booby (immature) banded, plus 30+ noddies. October 22--Left Sand Island 10:15 p.m. Departed Johnston Island via -MATS C-118 for Honolulu 11:30 p.m. Arrived at Hickam AFB 2:30 a.m. Went to Waikiki International Hotel again. October 23--Called Maryanna 10 a.m. in Washington to find out about Bill's request for house on Kure. They had not received message. Matter still pending. Searched out Fleet and Gould, met Warren King. In the afternoon Fleet, King, and I went out to Mokolii Island (Chinaman's Hat), for a preliminary survey. We waded a distance of 0.3 miles in water averaging about 4 feet deep, from Kualoa Point. The island is about 0.10 by 0.15 miles. A large, sheer mass of rock in the form of a butte, probably a former volcano core, rises to a height of 206 feet in the center of the island. This structure gives the island the appearance from which it derives [illegible] name. The lower slopes rise to a height of about 50 feet and are covered with thick vegetation. The vegetation includes large masses of Scaevola on the landward side, mixed with a flowering weed called leitana (?). On the seaward side this same weed is mixed with tall grasses and shrubs. There are also a few coconut palms, some prickly-pear cactus, and other types.

Location Observer Weather Date Oct 20 Time to Abundance Breeding 1-10 10-100 100-1000 1000+ Nests Eggs Young Remarks SPECIES Laysan Albatross Black-footed Albatross Wedge-tailed Shearwater Christmas I. Shearwater Audubon's Shearwater Bonin I. Petrel Phoenix I. Petrel Bulwer's Petrel Sooty Petrel Red-tailed Tropicbird White-tailed Tropicbird Masked Booby Brown Booby Red-footed Booby Great Frigatebird Golden Plover Ruddy Turnstone Wandering Tattler Sanderling Bristle-thighed Curlew Sooty Tern Gray-backed Tern Brown-winged Tern Common Noddy Hawaiian Noddy Blue-gray Noddy Fairy Tern Tampala. Plover Pintail 1700± - revised estimate, est 300t chicks 30-50? 200-250 ~300 day time, ~600 night 30t 50-75 1-2 50-100 1800-1800 5+ 1-2 over Sand; oct 20 or 2.I. 1 taken Oct 15 Oct 15 1 seen. Oct 18

15 18a Location Motukuri Island (Chamamond Hat), Oahu Observer Fleet, Amesman, King Date Oct 23, 1963 Time 1230 to 1830 Weather Clear SPECIES Abundance Breeding Remarks 1-10 10-100 100-1000 1000+ Adults Nests Young Laysan Albatross Black-footed Albatross Wedge-tailed Shearwater Christmas I. Shearwater 15 nestlings, 6-8 days. Audubon's Shearwater Bonin I. Petrel Phoenix I. Petrel Bulwer's Petrel Sooty Petrel Red-tailed Tropicbird White-tailed Tropicbird 5 Masked Booby Brown Booby Red-footed Booby Great Frigatebird Golden Plover Ruddy Turnstone Wandering Tattler 1 Seen by King Sanderling Bristle-thighed Curlew Sooty Tern Gray-backed Tern Brown-winged Tern Common Noddy Hawaiian Noddy Blue-gray Noddy Fairy Tern

Amerman, Kenneth 1963 Fifteen Wedge-tailed Shearwaters (nestlings) were found, in burrows (except one). Fourteen of these were in the scaevola - leitana area on the landward side. The other was found on the Northeast slope. Five White-tailed Tropicbirds were seen from shore, circling around the top of the island. October 24 --Mokuouia Island Bob Fleet and I waded to this island from Kalanai Point, arriving at 3:15 p.m. The island lies about 800 feet offshore. Water depth was about 3 feet. The island is about 1700 feet by 1000 feet. Maximum elevation equals 12 feet (est.). This is the largest island in the area and is nearly covered with vegetation. There are four smaller islets nearby, all consisting of nearly bare rock. According to a fisherman with whom we talked, much of the vegetation on Mokuouia was planted (by himself). The vegetation included salt pines, young palms (or palmettos ?), sea grape (Messerschmidt bush ?), Scaevola, Portulaca sp., and short greases. Forty-four nesting (six to eight weeks) Wedge-tails were found and their burrows marked for future banding. Eight birds were found in Scaevola. The remaining birds were found in burrows in the grass. Most of these were under trees (salt pine or palm). Usually one burrow was located by each tree. Shorebirds included three plover, three turnstone, and one tattler.

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Location Natuwaia Island, Oahu Observer [illegible] Date Oct 24, 1963 Time 1500 to 1800 Weather Rain SPECIES Abundance Breeding Remarks Layson Albatross Black-footed Albatross Wedge-tailed Shearwater 44 Christmas I. Shearwater Audubon's Shearwater Bonin I. Petrel Phoenix I. Petrel Bulwer's Petrel Sooty Petrel Red-tailed Tropicbird White-tailed Tropicbird Masked Booby Brown Booby Red-footed Booby Great Frigatebird 4 Golden Plover 3 Ruddy Turnstone 3 Wandering Tattler 1 Sanderling Bristle-thighed Curlew Sooty Tern Grey-backed Tern Brown-winged Tern Common Noddy Hawaiian Noddy Blue-gray Noddy Fairy Tern [illegible], 6-8 who. flying over land mainland

Amerman, Kenneth --Oahu 1963 19 October 25--Popoia Island Fleet, King and myself waded to Popoia from Alala point, --1200 feet offshore. Island is approximately 625 feet by 375 feet. Maximum elevation equals 10 feet (est.). Island is eroded volcanic rock nearly covered by vegetation. Many natural cavities in the rock are utilized as burrows. Thick mats of Portulaca sp. covered about 2/5 of the island. Other main vegetation included unidentified shrubs of two types, one high and one low. No Scaevola was found. This was the most heavily populated island visited so far. Seventy Wedge-tail nestlings were found in the 2/3 of the island which was investigated. There are probably about fifty to seventy more present. A flock of thirty to forty shorebirds was also present, including plovers (10 est.), turnstone (20 to 30) and tattlers (6). As we were leaving the island around 6 p.m. we noticed shearwaters returning for the first time. October 26--Mt. Kaala, Oahu Mike Ord, president of Hawaii Audubon Society, picked up Warren King and me around 9:30 a.m. We attempted to drive up to the puamoho trail but were turned back because of Army maneuvers in the area (live fire exercises). Mike commented that the military seem invariably to choose to overrun areas where the Drepanids seem to be holding their own. As a result, we went about 3000 feet up Mt. Kaala, 2000 feet walking. Even though this was on a new road built for a tracking station, it was very tiring. We managed to see several birds, though none were very abundant, probably due to the recent activity in building the road.

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Location PAPAI ISLAND, OAHU Observer FLAT, AMERMAN, KAR Date OCT. 25, 63 Time 1530 to 1800 Weather FAIR -> CLOUDY SPECIES Abundance Breeding Remarks 1-10 10-100 100-1000 1000+ Nests Eggs Young Laysan Albatross Black-footed Albatross Wedge-tailed Shearwater 70 Christmas I. Shearwater nesting, 6-7 weeks; 200. Audubon's Shearwater 50+ additional; five adults Bonin I. Petrel (not counted) Been 1800, Phoenix I. Petrel coming in from Oahu. Bulwar's Petrel Sooty Petrel Red-tailed Tropicbird White-tailed Tropicbird Masked Booby Brown Booby Red-footed Booby Great Frigatebird Golden Plover 6r 7 35+ Ruddy Turnstone 6r Wandering Tattler 6 Sanderling Bristle-thighed Curlew Sooty Tern Gray-backed Tern Brown-winged Tern Common Noddy Hawaiian Noddy Blue-gray Noddy Fairy Tern

Amerman, Kenneth 1963 White-eyes were by far the most abundant. They were everywhere. Many more were heard than seen. This was the only bird not new to me-- I had seen it Wednesday (October 23) here at the hotel. Leiothrix were the next most abundant. I got a fairly good view of one. The red bill and yellow throat really stand out. Elepaio were third in abundance. I saw several of these clearly, adults and immatures (no white on rump). They appeared almost orange-- brown, nutmeg colored. Ama kiki were fairly common. I watched one for some time but it was too distant for me to see the bill clearly. Identify by voice-- catbird-like wheeze. Many more heard than seen. Leiothrix sounds like titmouse with a repetitive call or like an Oriole with a second. A few apapane were present, again more heard than seen. I caught a glimpse of one, merely a flash of red, black and white as it took off. Couldn't see the bill on this one, though I think I made it out (fairly) on one in flight silhouette. Two Chinese thrushes were heard, not seen. October 26--We also went to East Loch (?) of Pearl Harbor. On mud flats there we saw Hawaiian stilts (ten to fifteen), Golden Plovers, Sanderlings, Turnstones, Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, one Dowitcher, Shovellers, American Widgeon (1), both (?) teal, Muscovy duck (2?). In the reeds or cane beyond were flocks of strawberry finches (numerous), rice birds, and manakins (blue bill, black head and throat, brown body). Also present--both doves, mynahs, one coot.

Amerman, Kenneth 1963 New species: Leiothrix Elepaio Amakiki Apapane Strawberry finch Manakin October 29--Midway Atoll, Sand Island Departed Honolulu (Hickam AFB) 1130 via Northwest flight N21. Arrived at Midway Island 1530 (Midway Time) - four hours fifty minutes flight time. Walked around the island 1800--1900. It was dark at about 1830. By far the commonest bird is the Fairy Tern. I also saw many noddies (Hawaiian ?) and Golden Plovers; one flock of twenty-one Ruddy Turnstone. I saw what looked like shearwaters or petrels flying low over the ground after dark. Appeared to be dark on upper wings and back, white on breast and abdomen, light underwings; small in size. October 30--Walked around the island again 0800-0900. In addition to the birds seen yesterday, I also saw five Red-tailed Tropicbirds and at least twenty frigates. Lt. Com. Herb Kebshull contacted me when I returned to the BOQ and stated that I might get to Kure today. Departed Midway Island 1330, via U-F ?, arrived on Green Island, Kure Atoll 1400. Bill Wirtz and Jim Ludwig acquainted me with members of the crew and with their current work. Two shearwater study areas (200 x 200) and a rat study area have been set up. Two observation platforms have been constructed for activity studies. Banding and collecting are going well. Some real strange things nt Petrel (?), skylark, water thrush, Hawaiian are turning up here - Giat

Amerman, Kenneth--Sand I. Midway Atoll--Green I., Kure Atoll 1965 24 owl, redhead duck, unidentified duck resembling small scaup (Asiatic?), several sharp-tailed sandpipers, one pectoral, several unidentified uncollected passerines. Two mist nets have produced about twenty shorebirds in two days. Saw my first Masked Booby and Bonin Island Petrel today--latter from mist net. Unident. Procellarids on Midway most probably Bonins. October 31--Jim and Bill took me on a short tour of the study areas. Seventy-three burrows in one corner (50 feet by 50 feet) of one plot. We then rode around the beach on the flatbed, chauffeured by Gibson. Saw my first albatrosses, Black feet. We banded five. Also saw my first Hawaiian Monk Seals - one group of twelve, another pair and another single. Three new ones were tagged. Shorebirds caught in mist nets are being weighed and measured. Jim has demonstrated the preparation of both skins and skeletons. November 1--Jim and I spent the morning and part of the afternoon plotting one shearwater-petrel study grid and counting burrows. The birds seem to favor the grass clumps or grass-puncture vine associations. They seem to avoid low puncture-vine, but a few are found beneath high columns. A few are found beneath the clumps of another low-growing, 1 light-green plant. Very few were found in Scaevola. 333 active burrows, 151 inactive, 82 scrapes, average density per slot = 35. Maximum 84 and minimum 8. Later in the afternoon we rode around looking for seals and gooneys. Four new seals were tagged, new black-footed albatrosses banded, __ new recoveries. We also missed unbanded birds, making a total of __ new birds for the day and __ altogether on the island.

Amerman, Kenneth--Green I., Kure Atoll 1963 At night we tried some banding but it was still too bright, even though cloudy. 38 total One ? frigate upchucked three 2 1/2 inches file fish - first reef fish I have seen as food. November 2--Saw only previously handled albatrosses on tour of island today. November 3--I skinned a common noddv in the afternoon. Abominable amount of time to do a fair job at best. Long way to go. Four new albatrosses. November 4--Up early for a day of observations from north tower. Worked at this from 0800 - 1150 and 1320-1630. Jim was simultaneously observing south end of island from radar tower while Bill checked his traps. Some general notes on activities after one day of observing--no Fairy Terns seen in afternoon: only one noddv seen in early afternoon, then several late (1500). A few frigates were seen soaring over lagoon late in morning; always several in afternoon until - 1600 when activity dropped off. Very little activity from 1300-1500 except frigates and occasional booby, then picked up past this hottest part of day. Much preening all day during molt. Went out after dark after albatross. Got first Laysan, on west beach south of dock, plus largest number of new individuals--over forty. Also got several frigates, ten red-footed boobies. November 5--Jim and I switched places for another day of observations. Saw about thirty albatross along the beach all day--five just below tower. A pair seemed to be formed early in day when one marked individual replaced an unmarked one after a brief encounter. The pair engaged in kill

Amerman, Kenneth 1963 rubbing, mutual preening, some bowing, neck stretching and various vocalizations during much of morning, then sat side by side rest of day. This was repeated late in afternoon when a sixth individual joined the group and a second pair was formed. Yesterday's general observations repeated. Bobbies appear to come back in between 5 and 4 p.m. One Fairy Tern observed late in afternoon. Many frigates spread wings while on perches--function? Great success with albatrosses again--over fifty new birds after dark (inc. recoveries), plus - 20 frigates and boobies. November 6--Another day of bird watching, this time from north tower again. Quite hot and still all day until late afternoon when wind sprang up, shifted. Several unusual events--saw a sea turtle swim by; two seals playing or mating worked their way from north point past me. No prolonged contact but much muzzling, rolling over, swimming side by side, etc. About 1/2 hour before lunch an immature red-footed booby alighted on tower and remained, watching every move I made with neck stretched. Another was present when I returned after lunch and it also remained, for nearly an hour. Both were back about 4:15. Rain prevented any banding at night. November 7--Rain and strong wind continued all morning. Wind increased in afternoon, with occasional sprinkles. Jim and I put in a couple of hours each in both morning and afternoon on the towers - he on the north, I on the radar tower

Amerman, Kenneth 1963 Weather prevented note taking in A. M. General observations-- albatross flying in close all day; always one to four in air. Frigates-- very little activity, never more than two to three in air at once, mostly just flying around the roost area. Boobies--wind appeared to knock some from their perches, as one or two would get up just as a strong gust passed by. Shorebirds in bushes and interior areas all day, some noted flying around over the island. Much nodd activity low over the vegetation; one large feeding flock of 60+ individuals plus another 60+ scattered individuals passed by about 9:45 a.m. Hardly any on shore all day. Possibly one tropicbird seen far out over the south end, heading east. Two seals went cavorting by, 1005. November 8--After debating whether to put in some more time on the towers, Bill and I banded from 1030 to 1230 and from 1330 to 1700. Got 172 albatross over 100 of them new bands, rest recoveries. Laysans have suddenly appeared in numbers, and in the interior parts of the island, between the runway and beaches. Also saw many seals up in the edges of the vegetation on the north and east sides; many untagged. Appeared very sluggish. Occasional sprinkles, high winds. November 9--Arose late after heavy date last night. We went out banding gooneys again, 1600-1700. Laysan's in in even greater numbers; some now in antenna field and two behind barracks. We got about forty new birds, getting nearly 100 % along the west beach and in the interior, missing

Amerman, Kenneth 1963 many in the dump. This is where the largest group of black-feet seem to be congregating; about forty there today. Nothing unusual seems to have been drifted in by the storm. November 10--Six of us went out after noon to tag seals and, hopefully, to weigh several of different sizes. We were using a large tripod supplied by the CG, plus Bill's hoist. Weighed two on the north point. Found that we couldn't keep them strapped to the board since they taper to both ends. The first individual was quite the worse for wear by the time we got straightened around to using a heavy rope sling around the flipper area. The second went much better. However, we found that this is not the way to weigh seals since the third animal, about 60 pounds heavier than the first two, died. Apparently the weight of the animal put sufficient force on the rope to collapse the lungs. The lung cavity was full of blood when we autopsied her. Therefore, much to our consternation, we spent the rest of a long day skinning the animal. We saved whole organs when practicable, portions of them in other cases, preserving them in both Bonin's and buffered formalin. The carcass was placed in a wire cage and left to be cleaned in an old road off the west beach to the antenna field. The skin was salted and frozen. We do not plan to do another seal in the near future. I don't particularly care to see another seal for a week or so.

Amerman, Kenneth 1963 November 11--Cleaned up the lab in a mad rush about 9 a.m. since a plane was due and it was suspected the Western Area team might be on it (on day early). We finished with only seconds to spare, just in time to see the plane turn back to Midway, unable to land because of trouble with the landing gear. A few moments of tense drama on an island paradise. November 12--Inspection team arrived about 1000, left about 1530. They seemed rather concerned about the rats, more than anything. Jim went back on the plane to have his head and thumb looked at. He rather ingloriously smashed into a shutter chasing rats; this didn't satisfy his masochistic impulses so he sliced his thumb with a scalpel. We gave him enough errands to run to keep him from getting too drunk. Spotted a small teal in the puddle by the fuel tanks and tried to take it whole without success, couldn't spot it again. Banded one Golden Plover from net, four Bonin Petrels. November 13--Bill and I banded albatross all day on the north half of the island, concentrating on the Laysans in the rat study area and antenna fields. We got about 150 new birds. Locations were noted in the study area. Many of the Laysans were sitting on apparent nests and were slow to get off. Many are making the "talking to chick" noises, even those not on or near apparent nests. We saw one pair copulating in the field behind the volley ball court in the afternoon. Found an unbanded brown booby sitting on two eggs in an old road in the northwest sector of the island.

Amerman, Kenneth 1963 Saw a Hawaiian short-eared owl four times in the afternoon. First scared it up from field near end of runway, then three more times at different spots as we headed west along the north beach. We believe it is probably resident and we just do not see it often. At night we collected twenty-six rats and removed ninety ticks from them in response to a request for three hundred by November 22. Using the fish net on them works well in open areas but not in vegetation. Jim reported one black-foot egg on Midway; also several ducks and shorebirds. November 14--Jim returned from Midway in the morning, reporting at least three black-foot eggs, twelve ducks. Bonin's slightly fewer than in September, tropicbirds way down, fairy terns same or even more numerous. Bill went up in the UF to get shots of the island. Hopefully vegetation maps can be made from these. Banded albatross in the afternoon. Found three black-feet on eggs here. Fairy terns seem to have disappeared. November 15--Friday Spent the day cutting and stamping marker tags for beach and vegetation stakes and in laying out plots (25 feet by 25 feet) for succession studies. Five of these will be in areas of sparse vegetation and will be checked monthly for growth and development. The remaining five will include all vegetation types and will be stripped of vegetation to observe the regrowth. Saw a pair of black-feet copulating at the north corner.

Amerman, Kenneth 1965 31 November 16--Albatross banding in afternoon. We handled about 260 birds, with the aid of Silock and Gibson. Worked south along runway-- East side, and south antenna field. November 17--Began clearing vegetation plots in afternoon. Nearly finished one in morning glory on west side of runway, south of buildings. Completed another in grass at north end of runway and started a third, in mixed Vegetation, along the shore at the same area. Bill and I banded seventy Laysans and got twenty-nine recoveries behind barracks and in south antenna field before dark. Jim began setting up albatross study nests. November 18--Bill and I ran the traplines. Weighing each individual in the wind was a real chore. It took us all day. We managed to finish just in time to reset the traps for tomorrow. 131 captures. November 19--Second day of trapping. 139 captures. A great many Laysan albatross now in the study area and the rest of the antenna field, most of them unbanded, which is disheartening. We have given up all hope of keeping up with them as they arrive on the island. Many are in pairs now and there is a great deal of the "talking to the chick" calling. So far we have seen very little dancing; what displays we have observed have all been short. We discovered that most of our ticks have died, which means a great nuisance for us in catching rats and searching them all over again. We caught and killed sixty-three rats this evening and tallied over hundred three ticks from them. They had better remain alive and there had better be a plane Thursday!

Amerman, Kenneth 1963 November 20--Third day of trapping. 143 captures, one of them a triple again. The weather was much more cooperative today. Very little breeze. We finished about 2:30 and then decided to put metal tags on the end stakes. Finished only the "one" end before time to reset the traps. Took in the movie for a change--very good, too, surprisingly. I took a walk up to the south point after supper and found the first Laysan with an egg, just behind a Scaevola clump off the runway at the south end (east side). This was the first time since Staurday I had been along the beach. Many black-feet have eggs now and the whole picture has changed. Most of the individuals remain sitting, even those not on eggs. November 21--Bill and I finished trapping in good time, before lunch and hauled the traps back to be cleaned. Jim's thumb has been acting up again so he has elected to go to Midway with Bill to get the house over. Just as they were getting ready word arrived that there would be no plane! The prospect of not being able to get the ticks out caused no end of muttering and rumbling. Bill fired off a message to KebSchull explaining the situation, to the effect that the ticks had to get out on the Friday log flight to meet personal pickup (by Bushman, who talked to Jim on the ham gear in the morning) in Honolulu. Whether this had any effect we of course don't know, but we got a plane at 5 p.m. November 22--Rain and high wind most of day prevented working out of doors. Of course the station was buzzing over the shocking news of the President's assassination. Fiddled around most of day discussing this and listening to news. Could not find Jim's birds from Midway in the refrig.

Amerman, Kenneth 1965 Weather cleared up enough in late afternoon to allow me to finish cleaning the grass plot at the end of the runway. Began cleaning rat traps after supper. November 23--Again no plane. I can imagine the dark clouds gathered around Bill's angry brow on Midway. Spent most of the afternoon collecting plant samples. Eighteen specimens were taken, though some of the grasses may be identical. Cleaned another batch of rat traps. Most pleasant pastime - it begins to smell and look as though I am starting my own septic tank. Found an adult o' frigate in perfect condition on the road by the transmitter building. Apparently hit antenna guys, resulting in broken back or neck. Skinned the thing in the evening. I am far from satisfied with the results. November 24--Began taking pictures around beach. Caught an adult tropicbird on the east side and took it back for banding. Plane arrived shortly thereafter, bringing Jim and a Navy doctor - a female, and a commander no less, which turned a few heads, to say the least. Bill and the house (the whole house!) arrived on a second UF flight (unheard of!). November 25--National day of mourning prevented us from starting work on the house. Finished taking pictures of the island, except for buildings. Unfinished business - photos of plants and study plots on west side. Also finished rat traps. The grass should flourish where I emptied the barrel!

Amerman, Kenneth 1963 November 26--With W. O. Wirtz, II as head contractor, we got the framework of the house up and three-fourths of the siding on with very little frustration. Perhaps we can replace the long-suffering M and R crew and study birds on the side. November 27--Rest of siding and roof put on in the morning. All that remains in trim, finishing touches, and frills. Not bad for three zoologists in one and a half days. Began painting the wood trim, putting in windows and fitting door in afternoon. November 28--Thanksgiving Painting continued plus miscellaneous puttering around on house. November 29--More of same November 30--Counters put in at both ends and floor (oops! - deck) painted. Cleanup. First volley ball game in weeks after supper. Skinned an immature Red-foot after movie, which Jim finished. Hopefully, I can now remember how to get the wings, tail and head out myself. The rest of the bird gives me no trouble. December 1--Jim spent the morning finishing gathering materials for de parture to Midway. He found an apparently unmated Laysan on the front lawn, presented it with a black-foot egg, which it sat on briefly after it cleared a depression. Finally the bird left for good. Jim left for Midway late in the afternoon.

Amerman, Kenneth 1963 35 December 2--Went through half of rat area hacking out the trails in the morning. Most of the Laysan's have eggs already. Hopefully, I can find a few which do not, for study nests. Primarily only single birds present, incubating. A few pairs were seen. These apparently will lay eggs very soon or have just laid. A few pairs are still dancing and a few trios and groups of four are standing around together. Many of these birds move around and exchange groups, as well as dancing with several different birds or attempting to do so. These may prove to be the "unemployed" or unmated birds. Started around beach in afternoon, with object of cencusing all albatross on island. Wound up covering only from dock to south point, counting birds and eggs. Counts: Laysan Black-foot egg no eggs egg no egg 180 127 133 37 Began moving furniture and supplies into house after dinner. December 5--Set up twenty-five Laysan albatross study nests in rat area (area A-L). Eleven new recoveries in birds on eggs. Also finished clearing trap lines. Change over on nest No. around noon. December 4--Began catching up on aloatross recoveries. Covered area from dock to south point (beach and interior). Got 115 Laysans, of which 101 were incubating, and 41 Black-feet, 36 on eggs. One Laysan and one Black-foot each had two eggs. About ten abandoned eggs seen, most, if not all, black-feet.

Amerman, Kenneth 1963 December 5--Continued work on albatross recoveries, covering the west side of the runway below the barracks and the entire east side. With few exceptions unpainted birds in the southern and eastern portions of the island are now unbanded ones. This makes the record keeping somewhat easier. Totals for the day: nine black-feet, four of which were incubating, and 153 Laysans, 110 on eggs. Roger Clapp arrived on the afternoon flight. We toured the beach from the dock to the north end of the runway before supper. December 6--Roger and I worked all day on vegetation plots, mapping Nos 1, 2, 4, and 1/5 of No. 3. Measurements are very subjective and variable, probably non-repeatable. Much difficulty in deciding what to measure (which plants and which parts of plants), especially in areas with much young grass. At Roger's suggestion we went through the north antenna field recording all Masked Booby bands. This is a good idea for several reasons-- any new individuals in the population can be recorded; it gives an accurate picture of numbers present and of sex composition; the birds are marked for further study. Males were painted with a stripe across the head, females with a spot, and unknowns with a central stripe. This procedure should probably be repeated every three months. The results of the evening's work are as follows: two new bands (737-47001, A-U, and 47002, A-F); 101 recoveries (13 juvenile, 40 ♂, 37 ♀, 11 U). Roger remarked about the birds' reluctance to vocalize, at least in the hand, which led to the high number of unidentifiable birds.

Amerman, Kenneth 1963 December 7--Slept in for once. Miserable weather spoiled the scheduled luau. It was held anyway, inside, and was still most pleasant and tasty. Roger banded thirty-six albatross along west beach North of dock while I worked on records, etc. Eighteen recoveries. December 8--Nasty weather continuing. Drenching showers and high winds all through day. Banded eighty-five albatross, with twenty-four new recoveries. December 9--Banded albatross all day in southern half of island--231 Laysans, 21 Black-feet. Thirteen Black-foot recoveries, twenty-nine Laysans. Banded Bonin Petrels in the evening, in and around shearwater Area A (north antenna field). Noticed about ten to twenty more Masked- boobies which we missed on December 6. Also, there were several unbanded Brown Boobies along the edge of the Scaevola and in a broad road or cut heading toward the west beach. Two Red-tailed Tropicbirds observed flying around in the afternoon. December 10--Spent the morning nailing the roof more firmly in place with eight to ten 2 by 4 feet. It had torn loose a little on Sunday with winds of only twenty to thirty knots: they reach 50 to 60 in winter. December [illegible]--Attempted to raise the north observation tower back in place without success, then tried to complete mapping vegetation plot No. 3. Rain prevented our finishing the last five foot square. Rain at night also prevented further banding and recovery efforts on boobies and Bonin Petrels.

Amerman, Kenneth 1963 Two groups of three tropicbirds were observed in early afternoon and a seventh individual was reported by one of the M and R crew. December 11--Dr. Fisher and Dr. Pettingill arrived on log flight about 8:30. We set to work capturing two small live seals which Cr. Fisher was procuring for the Honolulu Aquarium. This task was accomplished by 10:30. One individual was taken off the south point and another at the southern end of the Scaevola on the east side of the runway. They were left in the cages by the road to the barracks until the plane returned. While capturing the seals we observed an unusual large (yellow-legs size) shorebirds by the dump. It was long-legged and long-necked, unmarked gray except for slight white V on rump. Roger went to collect it before lunch, returned resembling a Cheshire cat. Further notes - legs gray or slight greenish gray, bill black and as long as head; weight - 180 gms. Spent the rest of the day finishing records and running around like a maniac collecting gear for departure. Departed Green Island, Kure Atoll, at 5 p.m. aboard log flight with Drs. Fisher and Pettingill and seals (phew!). The seal taken from the south point had died suddenly between 4 and 5 p.m. We transported it to Midway and Jim and I autopsied it after supper. Seemed to have blood in chest cavity, but not nearly as much as first seal we killed. Jim believed the intestine was ruptured also. Left the skin to soak and went looking for ducks on puddles in overrun. Scared up one pintail (?) and three teal-sized individuals but were unable to get them with lights alone.

Amerman, Kenneth 1963 December 12--Jim and I finished the seal in the morning. Carcass left in cage in Casuarinas in overrun. Skin salted and frozen. Kidneys were preserved in formalin. Collected insects in the afternoon, then went to Happy Hour at the "O" club. Night off. (Not as necessary result of preceding). December 13--Day more or less shot due to intermittent showers and preparations for my departure. Jim explained the set up on Midway, for future reference. Also worked up some skeletons. Left Midway for Honolulu 5:30 p.m., (Midway time) arrived Honolulu 10:30 p.m. (Hawaii time). Secured some dry ice from Air Force personnel at Hickam. United flight-kitchen freezers are not available for our use. December 14 - 15--Left Honolulu via United flight 84, 11:55 p.m. (H. t.). Arrived San Francisco 6:30 a.m. (Pacific time), departed 9:15 a.m. for Washington, flight 808 arrived 4:35 p.m. (EST).

R. N. Herman 1964 Taongi Atoll - Marshall Islands Oct 10. Atoll sighted about 0745. Great increase in number of birds this morning. Good numbers of Red-foots, Fairy Terns & Blue-Gray Noddies. Arrived off the WSW passage opposite Sibylla Island about 1000. Tide on its way out. We cruised around the edge of the reef for a short while looking for other passages or anchorage. Finding neither, we returned to the channel after putting one raft over with Mr. Ashton, Jim & Al. They inspected the reef at close range & took soundings. Saw several sharks. Amazingly sharp drop-off outside the reef - 135 fathoms about 100 yards out - no anchorage! Saw my first Lesser Frigate flying over the ship and Reef Herons (4, white phase), standing on the reef, oddly enough. We shifted for 3 hours and the raft tried the channel again about 1530, making it through with no difficulty. Other raft in water & loaded, then the first, before 1630. Ste aboard and started for island at 1700, landing at 1740. Camp set up before dark. Roger, Larry & George went NE while Binir, Phil, Chris (photo) & I went SW after Red-foots & Fairy Terns. Red-foots scattered, most within reach, through Scaiola & Messorchmidia. Perhaps

K. Amman 1964 Tarzij Atoll - Marshall Islands Sibyla Is. 5 Blue-faced were found on the west side, which is littered with rocks, shell rubble, boards and yes, fish balls. About 20 Brown Boboies were banded along this same stretch. Three or four Red-tailed Tropic birds nests were found, one with egg, one with 2-3 day old chick. Numbers of Blue-faced increased sharply along the east shore, with many pairs, one immature and one egg. Red-foots also in greater concentration, 6-7 in a tree. Returned to camp at midnight. Banding totals - 100 Red-foots, 74 Brown or Blue-faced, 9 Fairy Terns. The other team got 216 Red-foots and about 10 Blue-faced. Many rats and hermit crabs. Only about 5 Noddies seen or heard. Frigates scattered throughout, nests mainly along east side, with 1/4 - 1/2 Brown chicks. Some Red-foots or eggs. Oct 11. Slept badly, got up about 0745 & wrote notes. Two groups of ducks reported by the early risers. Also a few Hawaiian Noddies. Saw my first Crested Terns on rocks at the water's edge in front of camp. At least - seal terns! Gray wings + back, black cap, large yellow bill. Roger, Larry & I headed SW after. Breakfast (0900) to survey, collect shorebirds, etc. Larry banded Tropic birds along the way. Saw 2 Crested Terns on open

K. Amerman 1964 Sibylle D., Taongi Atoll, Marshall Is. sand at one of the cuts. Saw 6-7 Black- naped Terns in the same area - They are indistinguishable from Fairy Terns at more than a slight distance. Call much different. Collected one on the way back. Saw perhaps 15 Reef Herons, only 1-2 of which were solid white like the ones first seen on the reef yesterday. Two - three solid dark, ~6 white with mottled black on back v wings and 2-3 dark body and proximal 1/2-2/3 wings, wing tips white, 1 dark body + solid white wings. Walked to the end of Pokak, turned back in order to return to camp for 1500 radio check. No vegetation on island beyond, only large rocks + boulders. Frigates roosting on these. Reef is very close at this point, island very hazy due to spray. Coming back along east shore, collected one Bristle-Thigh. Saw one medium-sized shorebird with dark wing tips, long call. Did not view it through glasses, however I thought it had a light rump. Perhaps a gullwit? Roger thought he saw another unidentified small shorebird. Harry reported another a Danderling but we couldn't find it. Returned to camp about 1330 - The other

K. Amerman 1964 Sibylla L. Taongi Atoll, Marshall Is. group returned about 1630. They walked to the end of the next island and report clouds of terns over the one beyond - Other data - 7 Crested Terns or eggs, 3 more Blue-faced Bobby eggs, 7-8 Black-naped Terns, an area of shearwater burrows, many fish balls, poles, etc. from 3 wrecks, one only about 2-3 years old; Japanese survival shelter. Ate supper and then set to moving our tent as it had collapsed several times during the afternoon in rain and wind. Everyone very tired, to bed about 10. No banding tonight. Oct 12. Up about 7. Phil & D walked NE along the west beach collecting plants, then cut across the island at the point of the Japanese survival shelter. Finally got to see the other two wrecks. Both headed right for the beach, only about 100 yards out. Beach littered with lumber, fish balls, shoes, odds & ends of ship life. Thoughts about the feelings of the men aboard at the moment of realization + panic + after. How do these ships run up like this? Returned to camp around 11. Collected 10 species of plants, Scaevola, Messechnitria from the main strand vegetation, being much denser and taller and in a wider belt

K. Ameuman 1964 Taong, Atoll, Marshall Islands on the east (ocean) side. Sida and Spongia constitute the main part of the herbaceous ground cover, in patches, between the high vegetation where it is discontinuous on the west side. These patches reach to about the middle of the island, sometimes further. Other plants include Portulaca (?), and a grass, possibly Cyperus, associated mainly with the Scaevola + messerschmidia along the outer edges and in open areas, Lepturus, another herbaceous type, another vine and a single large tree - Pisonia. Six of us departed camp in the rafts for Kamome about 1230, leaving Roger behind. landed on the island about 1345. One raft went off briefly to explore the next island. We found the Sooty Terns and Wedgetails which were nesting on Sibylla, in good numbers. There are large areas of grass along the west side of this island, backed by a belt of Sida + grass. The Scaevola and Messerschmidia cover the eastern third of the island, being quite open on the west and dense adjacent to the east beach. Fairy Terns very numerous here, even more so on the next (North) island. Perhaps 1/3 of the population nesting, half with eggs and half with chicks of all stages. Red-footed

K. Ameurman 1964 Taongi Atoll, Marshall Islands and Frigates also in large numbers, many rests. Most Red-foots had eggs. Found two Brown phase resting, one with a day old chick, the only chick I saw. Frigates had eggs & young up to half grown. A few Common Noddies were scattered about. Several were immatures and I saw one 1/3 grown chick. Began banding shortly after 2000. Larry & I did Wedgebills, the others Sooty Terns. I could do only 200 Wedgebills in 4 hours. They were very thinly distributed and I got lost several times. Larry set out about 2200 after Shore birds. I finished my last four Wedgebills in the rain. Binion, Phil & Chris had returned by this time and streaked past me to the small Scaevola bush about 100 yards from camp - the only one around. About five minutes later I managed to find the bush in the downpour, soaking wet. Oct 13. We could hardly have suspected the siege we were about to be subjected to, from this humble beginning. Thus began the most miserable night I have ever spent, with no exaggeration. The rain continued off & on, mostly on and mostly hard, from midnight to about 0400. We had no shelter other than the

K. Amman 1964 Taongi Stall, Marshall Do. one 4' high x 5' wide Scavola. Bimón + I were in tee-shirts and Phil was little better off in a short-sleeved shirt. Phil could hardly walk because his feet which had been badly cut up by sand. We made several forages for firewood and succeeded in keeping a good fire going throughout, which proved to be the one saving factor. The rain poured, the wind blew and we stood and sat and huddled and shivered, one side hot and the other icy, for four ridiculous hours. It stopped then. Until 6:30. Long enough for us to get warm. Almost. It began again. Slowly. We departed Kamone with no misgivings Shortly after 7. And it got worse. For another hour and a half we inched across the water, almost blindly in as heavy a downpour as we could get. At 8:30 we reached camp again. Not quite as cozy as a health + my. Brit dry, and a place to sleep we thought. Hoped. In vain. The tent floor was under 2 inches of water, cots + air mattresses and anything in the open were soaked. One might say we gave up in disgust at that point. At any rate, we stood around shivering and attempting to dry off (which was somewhat difficult since it was raining inside

K. Amerman 1964 Marshall Is. - Taongi to Bikar The tents too) and Brinjon finally decided to abandon the effort. If it continued raining nothing could be accomplished and even if it stopped the equipment probably could not be dried out, which meant no sleep for at least three of us who had had but moments of it the night before. Therefore, with no regrets, we departed Taongi Atoll at 1500 on the 13th; ship was underway by 1700. Oct. 14 Arrived off Bikar Atoll 0900. Capt. Knub took the ship in to view the passage, then down past Bikar Island in hopes of finding a closer route in and perhaps an anchorage, again in vain. After nearly 12 hours of sleep I awoke feeling miserable but by afternoon the aches * pains discovered in the soft bed had worn off and I felt quite energetic. Realized that on this trip and even the last to baypan the first needs had become to get clean and warm, rather than to sleep. Left the ship in very calm seas and had an easy passage into the lagoon and to Bikar Island. Camp set up near the center of the NE shore. First coconut palms encountered here. Fosberg says they were planted by Marshallese who formerly made periodic trips here to harvest turtles and birds, always being careful not to still remove too many. Interesting that most

K. Anerman 1964 Biker Atoll, Marshall Islands "primitive" societies that live in such close contact with nature WERE are wise enough not to mistreat it. This atoll differs from Taongi in that the islands are smaller, but the vegetation is much more lush. The center is occupied by Pisonia forest 35'-40' tall. Messerschmidia occurs outside this, being 20' tall on the interior and gradually diminishing toward the shore where it becomes mixed with Scaevola. Cocoanuts in one grove at the NW end, plus two trees at the SE end. Two breadfruit (Pandanus) near the coconut grove. Short groas occurs around the perimeter beneath Scaevola v Messerschmidia. A small succulent also occurs there, more on the SE & SW sides. Two vines, one trifoliote and the other red-backed complete the plant species present. Rested till dark, then went out after boobies and anything else we could get. Banded Browns, Red-footed, Frigates. Most quite high. To bed by 2200. Oct 15. Rain during the night, continues today settled from 0700-1130. No exploratory trip to the other islands as planned. Walked around the island in daylight as the rain stopped. Can find no White-tail Tropicbird rests, though at least 6 have been in the air at once.

K. A. Freeman 1964 Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands After the rain stopped we poisoned the coral heads in front of camp and collected the fish. Many I have seen at Sand Johnston, but some were new. conspicuously absent were the huna, huna and black triggerfish. A few new butterfly species appeared in the pile. About 45 species in all; grandly, beautiful beyond belief. After supper we went after blood gariples. Only 3 Brown Boobies were present, in contrast to the dozen or so the night before. Perhaps they have moved to one of the other islands or to the rocks along the reef. Only 5 samples obtained. Oct 16. Another shower during the day. light rain in the morning 1000. We broke camp To Jaboeruhy Island at Jaboces on it. The island has only Betel nut vine on it. There is corals on the shore, and a sand flat where the Terns. We wandered the few palms on the island to shoot it. Arrived at 9 a.m. and all in camp on the the two adjacent islands.

K. Armanan 1964 Bikar Atoll, Marshall Is. Roger & I walked around Jabscrubby before Camp was set up. Found about 20 Brown Boboos just under the edge of the forest, mainly on the east side; a Sooty Tern colony on the small islet off the NE corner, estimate 200 adults + 500 chicks present with brief glance. A group of Crested Terns was in the center of the Sooties, apparently resting. About 15 Masked Boboos nests were found on the flat area of grass; Ontalaca (3) on the SW end of the island, most near the edge of the trees. After setting up camp Roger & I went over to Prumeni to survey it while the others toured our island. Found 18 Masked Boboos, with nests, on the east side in grassy area similar to that on Jabscrubby. Mice numerous in grass. Roger went through the interior, finding a Mensorium Boboos nest (616?), several Turnstones; plovers, and one Red-tailed Tropic bird on a nest. We found a carcass of an immature frigate with a home-made tetherer attached. The streamers consist of red, white, blue cloth strips sewn together. Roger said frigates kept as pets in the line islands are marked in this fashion by their owners. Significant ? Still could find no Red-foots or Sooty Terns resting. On returning to camp the other

K. Amerman 1964 Bikar Atoll, Marshall Islands team reported one white-tailed Tropic bird nest in a hollow in a tree inside the forest, about 6' off the ground. Rogers: I found two Wedgetail chicks near the masked Booby nesting area. First record of Wedgetails for the atoll. After supper we all went out after boobies. Banded 62 Red-foots, 61 Browns and 57 Masked. Surprising numbers of Browns inside the forest; some quite deep; a few Masked also inside. Finished the circuit of Jabocrabby by 2130. Roger, Larry, Brian, George & then went to Bumunen for boobies. Found a huge club of about 100-150 Masked on the east side, decided to wait until after the moon went down to go after them. Went completely around the island including much of the forest and banded more Red-foots, Masked, Browns, Bridalies. Saw at least 3 Red-tail Tropics on nests deep within the forest and one Fairy Tern on an egg. Collected one adult Wedgetail from one of the nests discovered earlier in the day. There appears to be a group of Booby Terns just beginning nesting in the grassy area at the far end of the island. They remained in the air, wheeling about and

K. Avenman 1964 Bikar Atoll, Marshall Islands calling until well after dark. There appeared to be perhaps 500 in the group. They grew silent about 1 A.M. and may even have left at this time, perhaps without landing. They were never observed on the ground though they may have been scared up by our lights from a distance. Oct 17. Up about 0800. Puttered around for awhile, then George & I went up to band Sooty Tern chicks. Did 600 between us from 1100-1330. Mat 10-20 days old. Found 20 Crested Tern eggs and two chicks. The eggs resemble Sooties' but are larger and the spots not "smeared". The chick is all white, pink feet, bill. Looked like an albino Sooty chick except for the larger, thicker bill. Went for a short swim to wash off the Sooty Tern guano. The chicks imitate their parents' worst habits at the earliest possible age. Water actually hot, warmer than even I like it. After dark we descended en masse on the boobies again, first trying the club on Annumen with almost no success, then bombarding the forest edge and smashing down the descending birds with poles & nets. Returned to home base 2100. Roger & I went up to the Tern colony and banded 700 more chicks after finding it impossible

K. Amerman 1964 Jobocukhu I, Bikar Atoll, Marshall I.s. to get near adults because of the moon. The others continued after boobies, taking blood samples as well. Finished about 12:15 A.M. Oct 18. Straightened up camp in the morning and packed done gear to be returned to the ship. Roger was off banding Footy chicks again & Bill Phil & George were tracking down rats. Then Brian & I went after blood samples from Footy Terns. Got 10 chicks but only 4 adults, 3 of which we collected. Roger found the Footy banding tough going, went after Fairy Terns and Tropic- brids. Collected one Fairy Tern. Larry collected 1 White-tailed Tropicbird.. By climbing around in the forest he has found at least six nests. Great dinner from the ship - fried chicken, cranberry sauce, salad, biscuits & honey and hot soup. Do it Sunday? Worked through the fish from Bikar Island in the afternoon, wrapping them in cheesecloth to soak in formaldehyde. Then to writing notes. 2 Just after dark we all went after boobies again, starting on Kuremeni. Very little success with Brown & Blue-faced but managed to net nearly a hundred Red-foots on Kuremeni alone. Unfortunately or fortunately we had only one last string

K. Amerman 1964 Bikar Atoll of 7A bands, so we made a quick circuit of Jabberdiby, and retired by 10:45. Oct 19. Up at 0600, camp down by 0645. Last night's high tide was higher than any so far, forcing us to remove the raft from its high-dry position on the sand bar. Second raft came in at 0730 (after leaving ship 0600!). All gear aboard ship by 0830, underway moments later. The ride out the channel was very enjoyable. Both sides of the passage formed a continuous waterfall about a foot high with the water pouring off the reef and the point had the appearance of an ice sheet. Did laundry, helped in packing, stood watch from 1215-1630. Full day, very satisfying. From a distance the water in these lagoons appears bright blue, then changes to the familiar bright green as you get nearer. This was noticed in the approach to Taka Atoll. Sighted the atoll about 1430, off the passage by 1600 and inside the lagoon by 1715. Very few birds at sea, mostly Fairy Terns, a few Noddies + Sooty. One feeding flock of Red-footed about 130.

K. Boulkman 1964 Taka Atoll - Marshall Islands Spent the night aboard ship. Oct 20. Up at 0700. Royer, Phil's 2 went in one raft to Elak and Bochen Islands, leaving the ship about 0830 and returning at 11.57, while Binon, Genge & Lany went to Taka and Lojoton and Wrojovich. No vegetation exists on Bochen. About 20 Black-raped Terns and an equal number of Hawaiian Nodules were roosting on the NW corner and 6 Golden Plovers were feeding on the exposed rock flats on the North ( seaward ) side. One dead turtle was found. It was being devoured by hermit crabs. Another turtle was crawling along the rocks of the North Side. It apparently had wounded itself on the rocks or perhaps had had an encounter with a Shark 3, as it was bleeding and seemingly wandering dimlessly on the island. Tom Jones, our boatman, tracked it most of the length of the island. The shell species utilized by the various hermit crabs shows more variety here than previously seen. They include Turbo, lamp shells, augers, horn shells. It would be interesting to check numbers of each. On Elak, which Forbes claims harbors numerous seabirds, we found numbers of Fairy Terns and Hawaiian

K. Am Cuman 1964 Taka Ritol, Marshall Islands Noddies and a few Common Noddies. Our 3 estimates of Fairy Terns and Hawaiian Noddies ranged from 2000-3500 and 500-1000, respectively. Two Red-tailed Tropicbirds were seen in the air. Both noddies were nesting, with eggs + chicks. No fairy tern nests were seen and no boobies or fugates were found with the exception of 1 Brown flying past Eluk + 3 Browns roosting on Boken. Found the first butterflies of the trip on Eluk. I thought at first there were two species but Roger says it is only sexual dimorphism. One sex is purplish with a bluefish-white spots on each wing; the other is brown, red-brown + white and reminds me of the admiral group or a painted lady. New plants: [illegible] - another low upright plant and a broadleaf tree. The latter is possibly Terminalia. In the afternoon we all visited Taka Doland for about 5 hours. It is by far the most pleasant and picturesque island we have yet visited, more what one envisions as his surroundings when first entertaining thoughts of [illegible] the Project. About half of it is planted to coconuts which are harvested for copia by the natives from [illegible] Stoll

K. Ameiman 1964 Tika Atoll, Marshall Islands 4 miles N. Many Pandanus trees are mixed in with the cocoanuts. Pemphis, which reminds me of agalea, occurs on the two ends. Many new plants grow here, including a large tree with large round leaves of deep green and 2" whitish tubular flowers; Dimbryptilla; a fern and a parasitic vine. The east beach is fronted almost exclusively by Scaevola, reminding me very much of Rone. There is also a large (6") gecko here, dark greenish above, yellow below, which runs about the coconut trunks. A colony of sooty Terns is located on the gravelly southeast corner. We Perths were aware of them this morning as a huge cloud of them was milling around over Elke. Bimba estimates 75-100,000, though only a small portion of these are nesting and I never saw nem that many. They are on eggs and going up to a week old. Other than the sooties, there are very few birds on Taka itself. Few Fairy Terns were shot. A strange Shorebird was seen but eluded the gunners as usual. An Erolia species was taken live this morning on Widadida Lojion; it is

R. Ameman 1964 Taka Atoll, Marshall Islands Either a Pectoral or Sharp-tailed - I would guess Pectoral. The other team also report a Brown Booby with a red point, which would mean it is from Bikar. We left Taka near dusk and spent the night aboard. The Booby chicks are too young to land and the adults probably carried the got with the moon up all night and full. Late in the afternoon some of the ships crew came in to the island and reported a sailboat headed this way from Litirik. We watched it move around the reef but lost it in rain and darkness. It went on by the ship into the island about 8 P.M. Oct 21. Rain most of the day kept us aboard since we are not pressed for time here. We sawed rats in the afternoon. Curiosity reigns all day over the activities of the natives on the island. In late afternoon they departed the island and at first appeared to be going on, but they tacked around our stern and tied up at the captain's invitation. Of the four, one spoke quite passable English. Binan elicited a good deal of information from him about the birds, though in some cases it perhaps cannot be relied on since he often misunderstood

K. Amerman 1964 Taka Atoll, Marshall Islands our questions. He reports wedgetails on Lojion and is quite positive after seeing one of our specimens. Among the claims of trading for shells and belts and headbands it was possible to gain many notes about the natures. Andy, the English-speaking member of the group, is apparently fairly prosperous by local standards. He owns an outigger (the one they were using), one of six at Utrik, for which he paid $375 which he accumulated in a year. His father owns all of Wotouniku and the store on Utrik. He is interested in getting a 10 Hp outdoor like ours. The group appeared rather shrewd. They had seen our lights the night of our arrival and came over shortly afterward. Last night gathering shells for trading. Money is earned apparently solely through copra trade, which they consider land work. The ship visits them three times yearly, taking about 40 tons (500 bags) of copra at $100 a ton each time. Taka itself is owned jointly by two groups. Andy was educated for 3 years at Majuro. There is an elementary school on Utrik. Many of the houses have tar roofs. A

K. Anceman 1964 Taka Atoll, Marshall Islands trip to Biken Atoll is planned to salvage wood from the wrecked Japanese fishing vessels for houses. The present population is about 275. The people are fond of birds and birds' eggs. They visited Taka about a month ago and harvested a large number of eggs, and cooked up some Sooty Terns last night. We have a promise to be shown the clearwaters tomorrow and possibly we may feast on fresh-caught piping lobster. Roger Paimon saw a bird resembling a jaeger fly past the ship this afternoon and Roger reports an orange-tagged Brown Booby! O.I. 23. Left ship around 0830 for Taka Islet, except Phil+ Roger who went to Eluk to collect noddis. Picked up rat traps, catching 8 out of 25 - first successful trapping. We took blood samples, wound up pooling all right due to the ridiculous 2-3 drops supplied by each. Proceeded to collect fish along the margin of the coral shelf along the island, taking advantage of the low tide. Still very precarious going - coral

K. Ammann 1964 Taka Lait, Taka Atoll, Marshall Is. very jagged & crumbly, not isolated locals patches as at Bikar; and water about 20' deep along the edge. Figueira & the Marshallese lent a hand. We spent some time during this operation hauling killer clam shells, 18"-30" long, off the bottom & into the raft. May have torn the raft in the process. I collected plants until 1500. While waiting for Brison at the Sooty Tern colony I saw a Turnstone with a definite red tump in the flock of 30 by the colony. George, Roger & I spent the rest of the afternoon chasing it around the beach. All of us got good looks, at the bird and agree it looks like an Aleutian individual though we were never close enough to see a band. While hunting this bird we came across the strange Sandpiper. Found the first day and George neatly dropped it. It is uniformly dark brown above except for a white wing stripe, uniformly light below, very contrasty; bright yellow legs, moderate bicolor bill nearly identical to Pectoral. Recalled tattler in color proportions, though smaller, while below, I had wing stripes. There appear to be five vegetation zones on Taka Lait. Along the lagoon beach are scattered coconuts and pandanus,

K. Amaman 1964 Taka Atoll, Marshall Islands with many young plants of both. This area is very open and has a ground cover consisting mainly of Triumfetta procumbens and a red-stemmed upright herb, possibly Hemuya. Near the center of the island are four small huts without walls used by the natives from Litirik when they come here to harvest copra. This area has perhaps the most varied plant life, with scattered lepturus, crabgrass, Dimbriostylis and Boerhavia (diffusa? - arrow shaped leaves) and some fern + portulaca. South of this there occur patches of lepturus, Dimbriostylis & Boerhavia. Also in this zone are Scaevola & Masserchmidia, together with many seedlings, scattered along the entire stretch, and a large tree with broad round leaves and fragrant tubular white flowers (Morinda? Quattbuda?) which occurs only near the ends. More to the interior lies a belt of denser coconut which does not reach the ends of the island. There are many fewer Pandanus in this area. The ground cover is taller and denser, deeper green, consisting principally of fern and Hemuya? with several other shrub species, possibly including Terminalia & Suriana, and Scaevola up to 6' in height. Seaward of this zone there is mixed forest

K. Awarman 1964 Taka Atoll, Marshall Islands of Scaevola, Messerschmidia + probably Pisonia. Fleurya? continues to be the main ground cover, mixed with grasses + Boerhavia. The second species of Boerhavia (round-leaf) occurs here in small amounts. The vegetation fronting on the WSW/NW other beaches consists of the unidentified broadleaf, Scaevola, + Messerschmidia on the ends, in that order of importance. The broadleaf is almost lacking on the eastern sides. These plants form a dense growth with little or no ground plants beneath. The northeast and southeast corners are occupied by Pemphis scrub. This occurs along the margins of the beach rock, in front of the Scaevola + Messerschmidia. The densest area is on the northeast corner. It is mixed with Scaevola Messerschmidia + Done leptina + Portulaca in the Eooty colony. Oct 28. Up at 0600 for a quick trip to Lopiron seeking Wedgetails. We dropped Roger+ Larry on Taka for a last chance at the turnstone. George & I walked the shore of Lopiron in search of it also, while Binio + Phil sought the pleurotus. They were more successful than we, finding 5 chicks, one of which they collected.

K A neuman 1964 Taka to Jemo Returned to the ship by 0730, underway by 0830 and out of the atoll by 0930. Arrived off Jemo Island late in the afternoon, ate aboard and then left for the island prepared to spend the night. Set out rat traps. Brian set up his insect light. Rogers Larry walked the shore before dark looking for skerhids. After dark we all walked around the edge of the vegetation. Saw 3 Red-foots, 2 Brown, a few Fairy Terns on the outside and many in the interior. Birds impossibly high. Larry found a Turtile, the first we have seen live ashore at night. They are as ponderous and somehow magnificent in life as on film. To sed about 830 under an open tuncifed skeller over which we spread a tent fly. Brian, Larry, George Phil tried Sleeping on the beach to avoid the mosquitoes & rats but came occurring back about 10 in the middle of a Shower. Another, heavier, one came along around 3 in the morning, The ships couring some discomfort. Oct 2ff Up about 620, collected a few plants we hadn't seen before, left Jemo 715, underway around 815.

K. Amerman 1964 Erikub Atoll, Marshall Islands The trip to Erikub was uneventful. We arrived in mid-afternoon and were greeted by 6 natives from Wotje as soon as we had anchored. They tied off our stern briefly, constantly smiling but not speaking. We made a quick trip into hoj. Islet, on the south side of the entrance, collecting, surveying and setting traps. The natives followed us in and we found the old man could speak a tiny bit of English. The other five of the crew apparently were his sons. They seemed to enjoy watching our activities. We returned to the ship in time for supper and spent the night aboard as there are only Fairy Terns and nodules on hoj. Oct 25. Quick trip in to hoj after breakfast. Caught four rats. Several traps broken open completely - hermit crab or natives? Returned to ship for move to Enego 2 miles north on the opposite side of the pass. Much variety in the vegetation here, including a few species not seen previously. The islet is rimmed with Scaevola + Mesoschmidia with Ipomoea and Triumfetta beneath along the lagoon side, Polypodium + Flacoya below on the seaward side. The center is open

coconut grove with a called Pandanus. Sections are covered by Cassytha and a bean-like vine, forming dense tangles. After another quick survey we moved again, this time three miles across the Lagoon to Wetherby Island. At supper aboard and went ashore immediately after, again setting traps and collecting. On board for the night again. Between 7:30 & 8:00 p.m. a swarm of baby green turtles went past the ship heading east. We hauled in about 20, putting some in salt water, some in fresh. So many unanswerable questions - had they just hatched that night? Were they headed for the sea, as it seemed from their uniform direction of travel and great speed? If so, why travel all the way across the lagoon and into the seaward surf? Do they direct themselves according to current or wind direction? How many hatched and how many made it as far as the ship? What happens if they come onto another island in their path? If indeed they did come from one across the lagoon? Do those deposited on the seaward side of an island on the seaward reef go right into the ocean, travelling in the opposite direction.

K. Ameman 1964 Eritrub Atoll, Marshall Islands from these or do they cross the island ? Finally, what happens to them now, where do they go ? for how long ? Fascinating. When removed from the water they continued their frantic scrambling, little licks of phenomenal energy. Took in four moves in all this night, to bed at 1 A.M. - This is a field trip ? Fred would blanch + sputter. Oct 26. Brian, George & Harry went in to Aradojairan again, then to Arado- Jairik while Roger, Phil & I journeyed up to Jaborwa via the ship. We found the usual species of plants, birds in the usual numbers for this atoll. The ship returned to Aradojairik after lunch where we picked up the other team who reported 40-50 Brown Booby nests and about 100 roosting Frigates on Aradojairik. From the ship this island looks just like all the others in size, vegetation + shoreline. Why are these birds here ? We continued South, anchoring again off Jaldoni. We split up again: Roger, Phil & I visiting Jaldoni & Guo and the others the remaining four of the cluster.

K. Averman 1964 Erikub Atoll, Marshall Islands In all cases the story was much the same again - Noddies, primarily Hawaiian, Fairy Terns and Shorebirds. Spent the night aboard. Oct 27. Ship moved early to Erikub. Roger, Bill & I went in to Bozengoa while the others visited Erikub. A good wind roughed up the lagoon quite a bit, giving us a bouncy ride. Bozengoa is about 1/4 of a mile long and quite narrow. It is mostly coconut and associated plants on the western half. The eastern portion is mixed forest, very open beneath, on large brown boulders. The dominant species here differs from those of the other islets with mixed forest, which are generally smaller. I do not know the trees, but the two main ones were one with light green leaves of the shape D and orange blossoms, and one with long green leaves of a distinct Ochusia → type — . A few Pisonia, Marsdenia, Morinda- Guettarda and one or two Alas were mixed in. The entire sea beach is fringed almost exclusively with large Seaweed, extending 5-10 yards in most of the way except near the mouth, where it becomes very sparse

K. Amerman 1964 Eribut Atoll Marshall Islands In the rainforest part of the island, the coconuts and Pandanus reach the beach here. In some areas the Scaevola is nearly wholly choked by Carryntha. I found my first coconut crabs. Three of them, growing on a fallen coconut beneath a Pisonia tree in the middle of the mixed forest. What mean, powerful looking creatures! The one I collected was treated with great respect. We left Bozanga about 11:20 and met the other party on Eribut. The six Marshallese were there as well. About six thatched huts of various sizes, some with tin sides, remain from the 20 or so former inhabitants. One in which we caught shelter from a brief, driving rain contained a metal bed. Eribut is slightly externally planted to coconuts for its mile and a half length. Many trees were down and there was a broad area of bare sand about 4/3 the distance from the coast end, indicating a fairly recent heavy storm. Coconut crabs were present here also. The specimen they had dwarfed mine by three times. They had collected an unknown white goose which the natives claimed they had never seen.

K. Krieman 1964 Eritub Atoll, Marshall Islands Roger collected a Bandriling and Brown Booby on Bozenger. Back to the ship after lunch for another short ride, back to Aradopairik. We went ashore before supper and managed to get only four blood samples. Returned after supper and got the remaining six samples and banded 46 individuals as well - better than expected. About 60 nests (58 counted) with eggs and chicks up to 3 weeks old. Only a dozen or so frigate present to day. The only difference observed on this island was a very open forest, mottly Pisonia, resembling that at Jabberwok at Bikini where Brown Boobies also were concentrated. Whether the natives prevent the birds from coming using the other islands or whether their presence here is due solely to this slight difference in habitat cannot be determined. It does seem unlikely that the natives would ignore one island out of the dozens more here.

K. Amerman 1964 Erbud Atoll Marshall Islands Oct 28 Brian went in to Anado joinite early in the morning to collect ticks from Brown Booty chicks. Roger, Larry shinned, Phil, George & I wrapped fish from Taka. The captain requested that all love gear be stowed before we got underway for Kwajalein. I translated this became "Get all that crap off the deck so we don't resemble a Chinese sampan!" So we spent a few happy hours 'shifting glass balls around (they're now hanging in clusters from the bulbheads in the hold, like grapes), bugging outsized clam shells about, merely tossing garbage overboard (sometimes it was hard to distinguish the treasures from the latter) and generally straightening up. In the process our storage area below and the forward lab got straightened up. We found gear we hadn't seen for weeks. I'm surprised we didn't run across the photographs in there somewhere, curled up in an ammo box - we see him so seldom any more. About 2:30 we left the lagoon. I promptly went asleep, was awakened for supper. Weather still

K. Amerman 1964 Erikub Atoll, Marshall Islands overcast and raining off & on, watches unsuccessful and abandoned in mid- Oct 29. The ship entered the lagoon at Kwajalein at breakfast. After what seemed like an inordinate amount of maneuvering we docked for the day at the fuel pier. Visitor's passes were issued by the Global Security guards. Liberty for all shovels began at 10 A.M. and at 10:01 we of the Smithsonian party were on our way eagerly to the PX, known locally as Macijp. We explored the facilities and returned around noon. Dave Perkins, The Bishop Museum entomologist, had come aboard by then; he arrived at Kwaj 3 days ago. Various other forays were made, the last of course to the local pub, the Ocean View. I stayed to watch the movie while Phil, Jim, Al and some others went next door to The Crossroads. Roger & I returned to the ship right after the movie. About curfew time (10:30) the others began straggling in and it was immediately apparent that Jim was in a nasty, belligerent mood.

K. Amerman 1964 Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Is. He was raging mad, hurling curses and statements about being pushed around, made fun of over his weight (which is prodigious) and being taken for a stupid Hawaiian and an inferior. It's easy to dismiss the whole affair on the grounds that Jim was very drunk, said that kind of violence in a person who had always struck me as so gentle and happy-go-lucky seems to contradict this. This feeling must have been building all trip and probably have some justification. Most of his attack was directed against Jones and [illegible]. It is easy to accept Jim and even unconsciously treat him as a "typical happy Hawaiian"; though he can speak eloquently and think well if one takes the time to listen. Tonight he displayed a magnificent singing voice in an amazing range - Strange contrast to his mood an hour later. As usual, the innocent get caught in the middle; the Chief Engineer was nearly pushed into the water by Jim, was slammed into the boat instead. This visibly shook Jim, who calmed down somewhat from then on.

K. Newman 1964 Kwajalein Atoll Oct 30. Binion made various contacts in the morning and got reservations on the 12:30 flight to Roi-Namur. Phil and I accompanied him. On the trip up I had my first aerial views of a real atoll. It is really quite a sight. The ocean this day was its deep, rich blue and the lagoon had the same appearance. Between the two lay the strip of light green water dotted with darker green islets. The coral configurations stood out as a series of darker fingers and cross- bars in the light green. There were several circular patches of coral a little distance from some of the islets, enough to be surrounded by blue water, and the tidal action conferred on these a pulsating appearance, very subtle. Roi-Namur is actually two islands joined by a causeway where the Japanese had a railway during the war. The cause- way served as the burial ground for 4000 Japanese killed on the islands in the Allied attack in 1944. Apparently there was a major headquarters on Roi-Namur, evidenced by many windowless bunkers with concrete walls

K. Ammann 1964 Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Is. 4-6 feet thick, still remaining. There also remain some of the 5" guns captured by the Japanese from the British in Singapore and transported here. Divers still bring up sealed containers of ammunition for these guns, from a freighter wreck off shore. All of this information was provided by Mr. Wal Whitlock of MIT's Lincoln Lab group here, who gave us a tour of the island. We walked around a bit after he left. Except for the great heat and lack of breeze I found this the most pleasant island I have been on. It was very still and quiet. The whole island was criss-crossed by numerous dirt roads and overgrown by a great variety of vegetation (Forberg lists 77 species for the atoll), much of it familiar-looking flowering weeds probably imported to give the place a "honey" atmosphere for other mainlanders. The whole place seemed to have a distinct country atmosphere which I like. We found a variety of bird-life but resting in large numbers and something only offshore. Seen were Fairy Terns (2-3), Hawaiian Noddies (flocks up to 25-30) and Red-footed Boobies (5, 4 dark phase), all

K. Amerman 1964 Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Is. offshore; 1 Frigate high overhead, 2 Reef Herons, numerous Plow + Turnstones, a few Wandering Tattlers, a few ("10") Culex, most or all apparently Whistled rather than the expected Bristle-thighed, 1 Godwit, "6 Crested Terns, 1 unidentified duck. Oct 31. Halloween - If memory serves me this day was notable only in the contest between Larry + Roger to see who could down the most gin + tonics. Both even at 13, but Roger declared himself winner since he was on his feet after Larry climbed into The rack. Result - Larry promptly fell out of The rack (supporto) Nov. 1 (Kwajalein Day - Oct 31st) According to our calendar Tempest Still Fugets but for local citizens time has shifted still. I don't know if the birds get to go out trick-or-treating again. There is enough traffic between here and Honolulu and enough resulting confusion over the different dates that time is being adjusted by this extra day here. George and I went on a nightseeing cruise aboard the converted LCO ferry "Tarkang". The trip was along the eastern

K. Amerman 1964 Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Is. sail of The lagoon as far as Biegej, with stops of an hour each at Ebeye and Biegej. We looked for birds all along but saw nothing notable. There were many Hawaiian Noddies in the lagoon and fewer than 6 Fairy Terns outside the reef. A few Plovers were seen in the antenna field of The loran station on Ebeye and 4 Plover and 6 Tattlers on The lagoon shore at Biegej. The village on Ebeye seems very unpleasant just walking through, though perhaps the natives are better off (=happier?) than in former times. All the houses are patchwork boards, most without paint and most open along at least one wall which can't provide much shelter from rain though it probably serves to let breezes in. Most homes seemed to lack furniture beyond beds and all the household goods, boxes, piles of cloth, clothes, odds & ends were stacked helter-skelter everywhere. There are dogs, chickens and a few pigs wandering about. We stopped at the loran Station for a brief chat. The 13 crew members say they are enjoying themselves. The

K. Ameciman 1964 Kangalim Atoll, Marshall Is. island must provide sufficient, e.g.,... entertainment. This is the only Loran Station I have heard of where the Guys intend for 6 months a year. At Bizej George and I probed around some but found the vegetation impenetrable and no sign of birds. There are 2-3 shacks with families living in them. If these people go into the interior of the island at all we could find no way they could. The rest of the S.I. party went to Carlson (Enubij) Island for fish collecting. They returned with a fair variety including some species not seen before this trip. Reported very hard job because of heavy currents. Nov. 2 Roger & I went up to the runway in the afternoon to investigate the Shorebirds. Though somewhat inadequately prepared as far as days' roundout because we didn't expect much, we were rewarded with 5 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, 1 Sandpiper sp., 1 Sandpiper, 1 Whimbrel, 1 Pintail (♂), 1 Tufted (♀) Duck and 1 unknown duck. In addition we saw 3 other ducks, one of which we wounded.

R. Amanman 1964 Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Is. and one of which was a Shoveller, plus 15-20 more Sharp-tails, ~200 Ruddy Turnstones and 200 Golden Plover, 25 Tattlers. Meanwhile the rest of the group went to Little Baurdland Island (Orubebbi) to prison. more fish. They had better success there, picked up even more new species. Nov. 3 George, Larry: I went to the runway again in the afternoon, mainly after the ducks missed yesterday. It turned out to be another remarkable day of collecting; we got every new species we found. Collected were: 1 Tanderling, 3 Whistler, 2 Shovelers, 2 Duck spp., 1 Black-bellied Plover and 1 Snipe. Nov. 4 George, Larry: I returned to the runway in the early morning. Birds were very scarce in comparison to previous visits - daily cycle? Managed to collect only 3 Eutin, 1 of which appears slightly different from the Sharp-tails - head shell mid-brown rather than rufous, heavier streaking on breast. Major Thayer, the men in Security and the men of the Fire Station crash tucks who chaperoned on the last two occasions were very helpful.

K. Rovenman 1964 Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Is. Great occasion today! We traded movies with the LST Harris County. We finally got rid of those old clunkers and have something to occupy our evenings again. Nov 5. George & I finally got to the laundromat in the morning. Wait with waiting for the machines to be checked, having our wash recycled by an attendant for no apparent reason, which necessitated our requesting our quarters back so the clothes might go through the "wash" cycle, and watching people dumping in the soap immediately, even after reading the instructions. I got a few chuckles and George got fed up in the hour and a half it took us. George and several of the crew are on edge because of The Delay. We were scheduled to leave yesterday morning but must wait until a new second mate arrives to replace Mr. Van Geisen, who suffered a back injury at some point. It appears now the earliest we can get out is tomorrow morning. Phil, George & I wrapped fish before & after lunch. Included were many captured in hooks, live from the ship and a few from Mr. Weyes traps along the pier.

K. Amerman 1964 Kenagalein Atoll, Marshall Is. Meyers is a security officer interested in the local fish. He is working with a fish pond that now contains about 46 species, and has plans for aquariums and shell displays. The pond is a ditch-like affair, 3 feet deep and quite clear. If one is patient he can probably see most of the species present in it. Nov 6. Improv. After catching up on field notes yesterday I caught up on letters today. Rain nearly all day. Brinion: I took a taxi to The dump and set out rat traps after supper. Bearing - 100 → 85 → 6? → 86 → 121 → 123 good Nov 7 - ? Reaching sleep, I guess. Nov 8. The others went off in the raft to Nath koi Island after fish, primarily, and birds. I took a taxi up to the dump, picked up the rat traps, cleaned up Lab 2 (shining). Was pleasantly surprised at not finding the expected Nodwit and out-trapped species under the accumulated debris. Stained a Booty Ten - turned out better than any of my other skins. The raft returned in mid afternoon with a packed drum of fish and 2 Common Nodwits, 3 Hawaiian, 1 Fairy Ten.

K. Raman 1964 Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands Nov. 7. I joined Larry & Roger Shinnig, did a Common Hawaiian Noddy, with results more typical than yesterday's. Sooty. Now I hate bloody birds! The second mate finally arrived. We departed Kwajalein Atoll about 4 P.M. Hooray! Nov 10. George: I had early watch. After this I tackled another Noddy, with regrettable results. We arrived at Jaluit Atoll in mid-afternoon and anchored in the lagoon opposite the main island. Two small craft came out to meet us. One carried Father Domahue, the priest for the atoll. Binion talked with him while we got gear ready for another assault. We left in two parties about 3 P.M. Roger, Phil, Dave & I went on to Kalkinabu Island after dropping George & Larry at Wright's Rubbenock. There we set out the traps (insect & rat), collected plants (29 species) and birds, including one completely new form - all white below and on neck and forehead; black crown and nape, very light gray mantle. From Alexander, appears to be

K. Amerman 1964 Jalint Atoll, Marshall Is. the White-fronted Tern (Sterna striata) from Australia-New Zealand. The island differs from any we have yet seen. The main plants were the lean-like vine and a yellow composite, and coconut and Merserschmidia. The seaward side contained the only Bemphis, in good amounts. Other plants included Pandanus, Scaevola (very little), bread fruit, two grasses, several vines and shrubs. The forest was not very dense but the undergrowth, especially, the lean-like vine, formed very dense tangles. Returned to the ship after supper. Nov. 11 Rogers Phil went off in a small boat painted to resemble a shark to visit two islands with lagoons in hopes of turning up ducks & shorebirds. The rest of us set out in an old whaleboat (according to Dad Feather, an authentic one, lightly prized on the west coast) with Billy (?), Alex, Daniel and another native, for Hiperon where the Marshallese report [illegible] Frigates. We arrived there about noon after a 2 1/2 hour run (20 miles).

K. Amennan 1964 Valuit Atoll, Marshall Islands This island was divided into two parts. The main (southern) portion contained a pure Pisonia forest with some Massarochmilia and the pear-shaped-leaf tree around the edge. Three mature coconut palms occurred near the edge and numerous seedlings were scattered along the south shore. Inside the forest was a large area of "birds' nest plants", concentrated at the southern end. The other section of the islet was a stand of pure Pemphis up to 80' tall, on bare coral rock that was extremely difficult to walk on. Hawaiian Noddies, Red-footed Boobies and Greater Frigate were the main birds. The Hawaiian Noddies were nesting in numbers (perhaps 400 nests total) in both the Pemphis and Pisonia. Red-feet were confined to Pisonia. About 200 were on the island when we arrived. This number rose to about 1000 after dark, the greatest percentage being immatures. They nearly covered most of the trees - very dense. The natives report that boobies occur only on this island at this atoll. "The same problem arises as at Eniwetok - why? Also, here, why such a large population on such a small area and what is the source of all the

K. Amerman 1964 Jaluit Atoll, Marshall Islands immatures? There were about 200 Greater Frigatebirds in the air when we arrived. It developed that they roosted only in The Pemphio. This is a more striking example of the tendency encountered at Koypan for Frigates and Red-foots to be somewhat segregated. At dusk we discovered several lesser Frigates roosting with the Greaters. Larry collected one male. Upon our arrival a group of about 30 Booty Terns emerged from the underbrush on the SW corner. Most of the day there were up to 6 in the air above, but none returned to the ground. Three were shot and all had blood patches but as eggs or chicks could be found, they may have been just beginning the breeding cycle. The natives report a colony of a few dozens on one of the other islands at Christmas last year. We discovered 4-5 Common Noddies nests, all with eggs, on a fallen tree and in the "birds' rest" plant. Binion said he saw a hermit crab destroy one of the eggs. Fairy Terns, like the Hawaiian Noddies, were found in both Pemphio and Przina.

K. Amenman 1964 Jabuit Atoll, Marshall Islands Several young were found. Bran Boobies were seen overhead. They nested only in the coconut palms. Two Crested tern chicks about 3/4 grown were found on the west point of sand. We penned them up as they would not become prey to sharks due to our disturbance. This resulted in our being dive-bombed by the angry parents much of the time, which in turn resulted in one being brought down by a stone by one of the Marshallese. The two chicks, one of which we collected, appeared to be about the same size but one had a yellow bill and may therefore have been older. After our preliminary survey George found a Fairy Tern and a Hawaiian Noddy in the interior completely gummed up with sticky seeds from the Pisonia. We cleaned them but they could not fly so they were collected. The natives had caught a Red-foot earlier and asked us to shoot another do it might roast them, which we did. When we returned from collecting fish later they let us sample them. It was quite palatable though rather tough - not too fishy - reminded me of salted dog

H. Newman 1964 Jaluit Atoll, Marshall Islands beef. The fish still was relatively unsuccessful. We had waited too long so that the morning Tide was running strongest just as we put out the nets and it was carried away too quickly. We waited around until dark, then went after birds for blood samples and specimens. While waiting we noticed the natives preparing sticks about two feet long, obviously to be used against the birds in some manner. Just before it got dark they went off and each climbed a tree and waited for the boobies to come in to roost. They stun the birds with the club, tie their head in their wings and drop them below. Kirby told me that 8 men working in this manner can collect 4-500 birds in about 4 hours, which they then take back and salt. They took about 30 this time. Though its not pretty, I feel no condemnation of the practice since it is a kind of harvest for these people. Humans are a basic part of the ecology here, in a more natural and less reprehensible way than "civilized" people who can drive the passenger pigeon Millions to extinction for sport.

K. Amerman 1964 Dabuit Atoll, Marshall Islands Because of the natives activity we decided bonding would be unsuccessful tonight and useless in the long run since the birds would probably be slaughtered in the near future anyway. We collected 10 adult red-foots, 1 Greater Frigate and 1 Brown Booby and called it quits. We then headed back with a half-rain. At-about reached the ship around midnight, Then spent two hours weighing & cataloguing. Phil, Roger & Dave returned with Stories of a great Luan, gifts of Shells and fans, and bad tales about the good birds they missed, including a New Zealand Cuckoo and a Duck. Nov 12. Up early to go back to Enybo to retrieve nat traps so we can depart by 10. Five of the traps had disappeared, a few were spread open and the door had been chewed off one. I didn't realize we were after such big game. Before leaving the ship we got word from Alby that the local women's club requested our presence in Dabuit since most of us had missed last nights festivities. Brian, Dave, Roger and I went right in from Enybo and Phil, Harry and George joined us ashore.

K. Amman 1964 Jaluit Atoll, Marshall Islands We stood around marking time for a while. The usual crowd of kids had gathered. Some were clowning, some were shy. A pair of tiny, cute girls with very big eyes now and then peered out from back of older sisters' shirts. After a bit the women's club arrived in a procession, decked out in dresses of large red & white squares, all of the same pattern. They sang for us and presented each of us with several beads, for [illegible] necks. Father Donabue then interpreted the leader's speech and presentation of gifts and Bini's reply. We made ready to leave and everyone shook our hands again, reception-line-fashion. After a bit of a skirmish getting George and Dave into the raft after we had started off we finally made it, curtly. The prolonged driving finally, fading away. Though the account sounds somewhat ridiculous I don't at all mean it to be. It was quite a warm, genuine display and I was greatly impressed by it. The gifts were marvelous placemats. Underway about 10:30. Going out of the pass a rain squall passed behind Emory and Kattenbush, making them stand out magnificently in that kind of electrified light.

K. Newman 1964 Debut to Makin Except for a few interesting shecruwater- petrels very few birds were around after we left the atoll. Friday Nov. 13. Arrived at Makin Atoll about noon. While watching natives headed for the ship in their canoes I discovered George below by the lat comental dumbfounded by a clam he had picked up on deck which promptly closed on his finger - he thought it was dead. Ben Brown extricated him while everyone chuckled at the ridiculous but painful scene. While Binion talked to the native Magistrate, Police Chief & doctor who [illegible] come aboard we got gear ready. We had [illegible] decided to try using the ship motorized whaleboat since we were low on gas. It was lowered in the water to the sound of much creaking and squealing. Immediately, water began running toward the back. Mrs. Ashtor asked MacPherson if it was leaking and he said the water was merely draining from the bow. As the boat continued to settle in the water he reconsidered his position. When told to haul the boat

K. Amerman 1964 Martin Otoll back up the crew asked "Already?" and Ashton replied disgustedly "Yeh, the ---- is sinking!" All of us went in to Bautaistasi about 2 P.M., towing the 3 officers by their canoe. We were greeted by the usual crowd. They didn't know we were coming, which explained the first question asked, "What is wrong?". Several of the men and boys seemed particularly amazed by our raft. One asked if he could feel our tube. Somewhat taken aback, we said yes and he went to work feeling and probing the raft. We left George, Harry, Dave, Chris and set out for Kotaba Inlet across the lagoon by the pass. Bimón attempted to shoot a Crested Tern on the way, thereby discovering that we had no ammunition. We detoured back to the ship, found "it still aboard," and continued. We arrived on the island about 4 p.m. The island was cut in two vegetated parts; both with high thin trees. These were possibly Pisonia, perhaps not. Pomphix grew in the cut only. A little Saccosta, Messerschmidia, Guettarda or Polypodium, Opona, "gears and one or two

K. Rimmerman 1964 Afrika Makin Delta, Gilbert Islands other trees formed the rest of the vegetation, plus a few coconut + pandanus. Population estimates - Hawaiian Noddy 1800 nests (700-1200 + 700-900) Fairy Tern Great Frigate Lesser Frigate Red-foot Brown Bristle-thigh Turnstone Plover Reef Heron We met some fisherman who were gathering hermit crabs for bait. After collecting Hawaiian Noddies, Fairy Terns, Reef Herons, Frigates (one of which we could not find and another we had to retrieve in the raft), blood sampling, setting net traps and collecting plants we departed about dusk. We were running along into the waves, getting wet as usual, hearing strange pelches which we attributed to the gas can (one tries every means, including ignoring reality, to avoid disaster) when suddenly there was a sickening hiss and the front

H. Anerman 1964 Makin Atoll Gilbert Islands compartment of the raft settled simply on the water. Since we and the gear were mostly in the rear we were quite pleased that the rear compartment held up. Binnen & Roger, I grabbed the bowline and used it to keep the front end out of the water for the last quarter mile. It's really a shame it was night when we reached the ship - another prattfall scene not recorded for posterity. All The few crew members aboard could not restrain their tears for laughing so hard at the sight of our "inflated wading cool", as it was termed. We ate, catalogued birds and watched movies. Phil took a raft in to the festivities and George & Mary returned with their birds, including a godwit. People straggled back to the ship until after midnight. Blegy viewed "Dementia 13", a terrible, darish psychological melodrama about an axe-murderer in a family in which a young girl had drowned 6 years before, and "Ball the Broom", a Bob Hope - Arnta Ehberg stale tale.

K. Annan 1964 Makin Atoll, Gilbert Islands Nov 14. Around 9 A.M. Prinon, Phil, Chris & myself set out in the repaired raft for Kotaba again. There we collected more birds, mostly noddies and Fairy Terns. I found the missing fangate from yesterday. At noon we headed for The next island north (Tuburene) which we under- stood was inhabited. On the way we collected some Black-naped Terns in a feeding flock. We stopped at an unvegetated sand-coral bar where we found about 10 Crested Terns and 60 Black-napes and 18 Black-nape nests on the rim of the highest area of the islet. Half the clutches contained 2 eggs, half one. We went on to Tuburene. This island was inhabited by only one family, a man, 3 women, a teenage boy and a couple more small children. It was very reminiscent of Taka Island though smaller, with mangroves along the shore and little or no undergrowth beneath the beautiful tall palms, most of them leaning toward the lagoon. The man could speak only a half-dozen words of English. Through gestures we got him to show us around the island. The shore was edged almost

K. Remeran 1964 Matkin Atoll, Gilbert Islands exclusively with Scaecola. Pimbristylis formed the main ground cover in open areas. A large portion of the ground was covered by fallen coconuts and palm fronds. We were lead to the northernmost point of the island. There the native, all smiles, proudly showed us some sort of a monument or shrine. It consisted of a 3 foot high pillar wriged with 3 strips of coconut leaf and topped with half a coconut, perhaps representing a human figure. At its base was a neatly arranged group of clam shells, some inside each other, beneath a flat rock. He uncovered the innermost shell, in which were some ashes and unburned tobacco and indicated he smoked a cigarette, which he placed with these materials, evidently as an offering. On the surrounding coconut palms names were inscribed. There was an opening facing the ocean, however, and the tative indicated something [illegible] in this connected with the monument or altar, with a sweeping gesture of his arm. The thing might have been a grave, in light of the names on the trees, in which case the native might have

K. Amerman 1964 Martin Atoll, Gilbert Islands been indicating spirits watching over it or the deceased's soul ranging about its earthly shore. Or it may have been an altar in which sacrifices were given to insure good favor of the gods of sea and wind. On the way back to the hut Binion stopped short and excitedly pointed to a red-rumped Turnstone in a group of 6 on the shore. He ran for the gun, returning shortly followed by the excited boy. The group sat tight, bathing in the small pools among the jagged coral and Binion got our bird, a remarkable find. The band number was from a hundred adjacent to the one we were given on Joluit, making at least 3 records of Pleiotian Turnstones for the trip - fantastic luck! At the natives' home we were given cocoanut milk and took pictures. We then said goodbye and decided to go on to the next island north. We had been told that it formerly had many birds but these had been removed by cats. There were only 2 or 3 Navian Waddies and a few Fairy Terns on it though it looked suitable for hundreds. We saw no signs of cats in our brief

H. Amerman 1964 Marlin Atoll, Gilbert Islands stop, though they must still be there. The vegetation was a pure stand of forest of thin light-barked trees, possibly Pisonia or poor soil. After a long, rough ride back we reached the ship at 4:42. While handling gear up I suddenly found myself looking at the top of the raft. It happened so fast I'm not clear how I did it—evidently the raft swung out as I was leaning forward. Roger worked on obliviously in the lab during the ensuing laughter. I sleepishly shanked myself out and went up for a shower, chapping all the way. After eating and cataloguing Phil took the raft in and brought Larry & George and their brides back and then all of us but Roger went in to Truknitari, having after shoelinks under a bright moon; the rest of us to join the crew in the local meeting hall for another night's festivities. This village seemed the largest and neatest I have seen, even in the dark. When we arrived we were seated with the other crew members or mates on the gravel floor and presented with paper leis and a woven mat

K. Amerman 1964 Mabin Otoll, Gilbert Orlandos on which was food - slices of taro, part of a grayish-green turnip without taste, undercooked and unseasoned chicken, and a kind of candy made of mashed taro, molasses and coconut. The band, consisting of cone guitars and ukeleles, was seated on one side of the short side. Beside them was a group of women and girls. Families and other spectators occupied the long sides, including many children behind us, and some people even stood outside the building. At the end opposite the band was a table with a record player. The village notables were seated there. The building was a magnificent structure, huge, high roofed with great supporting pillars and log beams, reminding me of a cathedral and Bimion of Mayan buildings. While we ate the band played and they and the girls sang somewhat singing Gilbertese songs. During some of these quiet intervals, a single girl would get up and do a slow solo dance. She would stop and another would replace her with a different dance. Then some of the men came out singly.

K. Ameerman 1964 Main Island, Gilbert Islands All the while the music was increasing in intensity and the singer's working harder and louder. Finally girls danced out again singly and moved in front of the one of us selected as a partner, motioning him to join her. The previous night there had been an auction. In order to stop the auction and begin dancing someone had to bid one pound for a lei. In order to stop the dance and start the auction the men had to clap. This night there was only dancing, most of the girls choosing the partners of the previous evening. The dance was the twist! Of all the incongruous things to find here, emanating from scratchy records in a Micronesian calendar hall! I suppose the rhythm lends itself to these people's natural dancing inclination and ability. At any rate, from the duration and energy of the dancing I could see the reason for the provision to stop the dancing last night. At one point the entertainers wished that we entertain them in turn by singing. This was to happen several more times at each island stop, always with the same result. We

H. Amerman 1964 Marlin Atoll, Gilbert Islands could not come up with a song which everyone knew or even that a few people knew well. What resulted was always a halting, giggling dance which must have made us look ridiculous if not insulting, to the lengthy and superbly done songs they did for us. Jim, Ben and Tigrera did team up on a couple of Hawaiian songs which were beautiful, though Jim's powerful bass and vibrato occasioned much laughter on the part of the natives. They evidently found it very strange. These three also did a lot of clowning and pseudodancing which went over well though perhaps mystifying the onlookers. Jim and one native girl whom Phil dubbed the Gilbertese Martha Kaye "danced" at one point, to every- one's amusement. This woman was apparently a born clown and she gave Jim no quarter. There were times in the dance when it looked as though she might throw him across the hall, a prodigious feat indeed! Phil was to dance nearly to exhaustion with this girl after we left and he attests to her wit. She merely had to open her mouth and the natives burst out laughing.

K. Newman 1964 Marlin Atoll, Gilbert Islands About 10 p.m. there was an intermission during which we were served coconut juice, from the shoots rather than from the nut. It tasted almost like Dams as the tare candy. After one more dance half of us left. The rest returned after midnight, with the exception of George, Phil and Dave who spent the night at the sechelhouse. Birmin, Phil + I bought 3 floor mats for $5, beautiful things, 4'x6', woven with patterns using light and dark leaves. Nov. 15 Up early and in to the island (Butaritari) by 7:45 to pursue shorebirds found on Sand flats yesterday by George and Larry, including Black-tailed Plover, Whimbrel, two species (?) of Godwit, Sharp-tailed, and an unknown Stilt. We stopped at the pier and picked up George, Phil, and the mat salesman who was to show us the channel to the area since it was low tide. All the way, Larry complained vociferously and tactlessly about the waste of time and imaginary channel. It's remarkable the way he learns the topography of a new area in a day or so, especially the submerged portions.

K. Amerman 1764 Mariana Atoll, Gilbert Islands We spent two hours combing the flats Nov 15 after tying the raft to a rusted scrap and stumbling in to the beach and collected only 4 Godwits, of two bill lengths but apparently the same species, and 1-2 curlews. Then we returned to the pier, picked up several crew members and Dave and headed out. The ship departed the atoll a little after noon for Mariana. The at-sea watch produced several storm-petrels for the first time. Most had broad white rump patches extending into half the tail and fluffy white bars; A few were solid black. Nov 16 Saw only terns as we approached Mariana Atoll early in the morning, most of them in a large flock. As we neared the reef a small vessel passed across our bow. We learned later that it was the John Williams, English colony boat on its monthly (?) supply trip. It brings in a school supply and probably goods for stores. Richard at 9 AM, set out in the raft about 10 (Crew title). Mr. Harding (new 2nd mate) went with us. We made two attempts at the small boat

H. Ameiman 1964 Marina Atoll, Gilbert Islands Nov 12 passage to no avail, then motored in as far as possible and dragged the raft a long way to semi-dry ground. Larry went off along the beach after birds, Roger did the same in the opposite direction and I followed him counting starfish or something, while Brian, Phil, George + Dave decided toward the point where they thought the village was. Roger + I were met by a native who asked in halting English that we come in to the village. Roger declined and went off collecting again which aggravated me further. The native, several dogs and I went in to the village and greeted the population. There was one old woman, quite as dark as the rest, who spoke impeccable English. It turned out her father was English and she had been educated in Sydney. I thoroughly enjoyed talking with her. I explained what we were doing (while distant shots boomed) and she in turn held me much about the small village. The only finds they drew of were Noddies and Fairy Terns. We sat in the meeting hall, a smaller version of the one at Makin. The townspeople shifted in

K. Amerman 1964 Mariana Atoll, Gilbert Islands and she kept them filled in on the conversation. The building we were in is called a manabe. The supporting pillars, of pandanus(?), must be replaced once a year due to rotting and termites, while the thatching is good for 3-4 years. There were only 9 houses in the village, arranged in a rectangle around a central square in which the manabe stood. At one end of this building was a picture of the Royal Family, and the head-Seon name Tientanubu (pronounced sensarubu) which was the name of their particular manabe. The village name I don't recall but it was different. Most of the houses were thatched but without raised platform floors. I was served the standard drink and presented with several items, each with an explanation: dried octopus, which could be stored indefinitely, then eaten as is or boiled for about an hour; dried clam; a live crab and two live marine worms from the exposed tide flats, both of which she had people detch when she found out I was interested in all the local criminal life; a papaya and a beautiful triton which

K. Amerman 1964 Mariana Atoll, Gilbert Islands one of the people shyly placed before me - I was very sorry I could absolutely nothing To offer in return. Just before I left the woman wore a basket of a half a coconut frond and stuffed all the gifts in it. She related that the lagoon fish were not eaten there, that the natives were not allowed to travel between atolls any longer due to the danger, and that there were numerous pufferfish about which caused painful wounds and to my understanding can be fatal, but which the natives treated with leaves of a particular tree which she pointed out growing in the square. I went back to the raft and met the others and we headed back to the ship. The ship moved south opposite the second small boat pace, towing the raft. Harry stayed aboard to skin while the rest of us embarked on the largest raft ride yet, about 6 1/2 miles from the ship to the village. Roger and I stayed with the raft, quarreling it against the usual curious throng, while the others sought sail the magistrate. They talked instead to the wireless operator since the magistrate

K. Amzuman 1964 Mariana Atoll, Gilbert Islands was due back that evening. Because it was so late we requested and got permission to remain ashore overnight and notified the ship of our plans. Roger and I then set out collecting along the east (ocean) shore, followed by the crowd and din. I managed to persuade most of them to remain with me while Roger went ahead to shoot but this was only temporarily successful since more birds poured out up the beach. I picked up the birds Roger got; after a short time they began arriving by native means. We already had a total of 11 Ruddy Turnstone for the atoll when a boy came up with about 8 at once. I wondered if Roger had gone berserk or only if he was merely shooting anything to impress his audience but he explained that the whole bunch were downed with one shot directed at a wounded individual. After collecting more shorebirds plus some Hawaiian Noddies we returned to the raft at dusk. The magistrate had arrived and was billed in. Through his interpreter, the school teacher, he asked if he could shoot the Okolgun.

K. Ammann 1964 Maurina Atoll, Gilbert Islands We agreed and Bimor carefully explained the mechanics of the 16 gauge. He took two shots at plovers on a rock offshore, out of range, and seemed satisfied. With the natives' help we packed most of our gear up to the transients' hut where we were to spend the night. The hut was a three-part building, the center completely walled on the outside and the two ends with half walls. The interior portion was apparently the sleeping quarters and the other areas were used for eating and socializing. Large mats were placed on the floor for us to sit on and dining-room-type chairs were brought in also. They placed a Coleman lantern on a table and the village dignitaries sat along the end wall and we talked back and forth. Roger curled up on the floor beneath the light with a book. The teacher told us much about the island. It is organized as a cooperative society. The entire income is from copra, which is also taken to the cooperative stores and exchanged for currency. The atoll produces about 100 tons a year, at

K. Amerman 1964 Marina Atoll, Gilbert Islands 67 a pound. Twelve grades of school were taught and at the completion of this any student who could qualify could continue his education at Tarawa. About half a dozen children each year went to Tarawa. During this time villages had been straggling in, clustering in the covered walkway. On three sides of the room we occupied - this was part of the house. Phil asked for a guitar and received one with a missing string. He tuned it for about 15 minutes but could make no headway with the missing string and so gave it back to the owner who returned it. We began to play and about 4-5 young men sang, still sitting out of sight in the walkway. The teacher then asked if we would like to hear some of the old-style singing and we of course said yes and were glad we did. Two men sat facing each other, cross-legged, and each covered his right ear with his right hand. They sang a chanting kind of song, very complicated and somewhat strange to our ears but very pleasant. The purpose of singing in this fashion

B. Amman 1964 Marania Ktoll, Gilbert Islands was to enable the partners to follow each other perfectly and maintain pitch, which they did superbly. The song they had sung had been a love song written about 30 years before. It and all such songs composed today are written in the old language which has been out of use for about 50 years. A rather old man sang another love song in a slightly different style. Next, several dances were performed. The police chief, a rotund fellow in a red sarong who reminded me of Jackie Gleason, did a waltz "dance" while seated, with his legs covered by a mat. The words and motions peeded up as it went and the chief was obviously enjoying himself. Then 2 couples sat together in a square and went through a hand-slapping dance which got more and more hectic and mixed-up as it proceeded. Finally, 12 people formed two rows facing each other and executed a stick dance, clicking sticks with any of the three people opposite them. This also provided everyone with much fun & laughter.

K. Amorhan 1964 Marinar, Atoll, Gilbert Islands It was led by the police chief, who chanted directions at the beginning of each verse, always ending with the same phrase which sounded like a-ee-i-ah-yang. At this point there was an intermission. Then we were asked to reciprocate as we had been at Makin. Evidently this is the custom here, to exchange entertainment rather than one group remaining mere spectators. We hummed and hawed and finally "sang" about a dozen songs (actually mostly fragments of them), including some Christmas songs. Again it seemed a halting, inaudible effort in return for theirs, but perhaps only to us. The magistrate then spoke, saying they had no formal celebration prepared since they had no notice of our coming, but that they had enjoyed our presence. Quinn responded in kind and we gave the teacher some soap, cigarettes and gum to be passed out. Everyone said goodnight and we prepared for sleep the best way we could. I was glad I was in the center portion of the house where the breeze was cut off,

K. Ammann 1964 Marina Hotel, Gilbert Islands since it had got quite cool in the other room just sitting with the breeze right off the ocean. At that I had to borrow under the mat during the night. Roger's lack of social amenity was only partly excused by his toothache. We kept looking for a trap door to drop him through. Enjoyed the authentic folk music more than the taint on Nov 17. Up very early, as it seemed, pre-dawn, and packed gear back to the raft, David our goodbyes (Tarakado, pronounced Sarkado) and back to the ship by 8 A.M. after abandoning efforts to run down to the Southern islands due to low tide. The magistrate had wanted to visit the ship, so he was up before us, taking George with him in a large outrigger which was government-owned. George later related that the craft was run by local prison inhabitants as part of their sentence. For the local equivalent of drunk and disorderly men are sentenced to 1-3 months in jail, during which they do work for the community. They are allowed to go home Saturday noon and return Sunday evening.

R. A. Freeman 1964 from Kuria Atoll, Gilbert Islands Nov 17 (cont.) The Ship got underway at 0700 and we accidentally encountered numbers of slender-billed Shearwaters in flocks of up to 40. They were not soaring as Scoters do but flying level with alternating many flaps and gliding. One or two birds had lighter underwings but I'm not convinced they were Scoters - not flashing as I remember Scoters. We saw these birds WNW 2 miles from Kuria, all heading in a southerly direction. Binion put four shots on a possible gull species and it simply disappeared. The captain said he saw it fly off, however. We arrived at Kuria about 3 P.M. There is no lagoon. We saw more conoco here than at any previous atoll - probably due to the absence of a lagoon. We quickly got ashore were greeted and explained our purpose. Roger went off along the shore collecting and - after Binion signed the visitors register in a tiny clapboard shack with pictures of all but the reigning English monarchs, hung and I set out in the direction of a pond, looking for New Zealand Cuckoos on the wing, since the natives reported seeing them occasionally. Binion followed with our

K. Rimmerman 1964 Kuria Atoll, Gilbert Islands (Nov) 17) Local guide. We saw no cuckoos but I got another 'life' bird instead, a tentative Pacific Pigeon which Larry collected out of a palm tree. In contrast to the Noddies, the pigeon sits 1-2' away from the base of the leaf; rather conspicuous. Some noddies and Fairy Terns were also collected. Only, Ruddy Turnstones (200+), Golden Plaier (50-85), and Tattlers (15-20) were present at the pond, which was salt water over much like that around the lagoon at Hangaon. Not watching where I was going, I went in it up to my knees - pleasant! We went on back to the raft and decided to head back to the ship. Binion, Larry, Roger & myself went in one raft carrying four natives, village officials I guess, who wanted to see the cinema aboard. They directed us to follow a channel since the tide was much lower than when we had arrived. Larry again insisted we were wasting time by not running a straight course to the ship. When we took a canoe in tow at one turn I became suspicious

K. Pomeroy 1964 Kuria Atoll, Gilbert Islands myself but since we were in no hurry I made nothing of it aloud. Cataloguing and reading filled out the evening. Nov 18 After breakfast all of us went in, Brian and [illegible] Larry to the more northern and less inhabited island (Oncaka?) for collecting, the rest to Kuria. Phil & George headed north to survey while Roger & I went to the pond to check it out again. There was very little there this time so we went out to the end of the island and looked up the east shore. We could see Whanuka still in the distance, finding nothing promising we headed back along the west beach, collecting shrubids on the way. Roger handed the gun to me and I found out why after collecting 3 plovers. Those 12 [gauge] magnums really slammed my shoulder, probably due to not holding the gun right. We walked back through the village, our happy gun-coaching thing in tow. On the way we met Chris and Ray who had been treated to dance performance by the children, grew white

K. Remeran 1964 Kuria Stoll, Gilbert Islands and all. They continued and we went on to the flagpole and then realized the raft was halfway back up the beach. While waiting to leave Redfeather handed out a chilling to the boys who had watched the raft (we had had to leave it way out from where due to the low tide, after getting it that far only by following the only channel, the one harry thought didn't exist). Redfeather finally got across that the money was to be shared by all the guards. About 30 Crested Terns and 2 Black- napes were sitting MIA on a sandbar off Oreadia when we went back for Bimin and harry. Roger picked up the gun, we moved in, continued to move in until I could see the malleophaga walking around. The birds finally took off with neat a shot fired. No explanation. harry and I each shot a Black-nape before departing. My arm about came off on the last shot. Love those magnums! Larry had got 4 Sharp-tails by whistling along on his stomach after them. I shined in the afternoon. Larry catched a canoe in to try again for pigeons and cuckoo, and Bimin went

K. Roseman 1764. Kurua Hollow, Gilbert Islands in with the crew in the raft later pulse with a gun. From the middle of the afternoon or canoes began streaming out to the ship and the curious natives were taken on tours of the vessel by various crew members. They remained aboard in anticipation of the movies since last night's guests had been treated to them all night long. Chris, the nocturnal pack rat, finished showing the last one about 6.30 A.M. We then woke up half the enthusiastic audience and they departed before breakfast, much to the stewards relief. The climax came around supper time when a larger boat came alongside bearing 23 natives including one white girl who spoke no English. Canoes continued to arrive after dark and at last count there were an even 20 in a neat flotilla off the stern. Also about supper time another ship arrived, carrying The 7th Day Adventist missionaries. We still wonder if their arrival was occasioned by our presence. Apparently as a result, however, Dave and George stumbled into

K. Amerman 1964 Kiria-Aranuka a church meeting that night, mistaking it for a party. We got news that a message had been received from Tarawa saying we did not have permission to visit these islands. The usual lack of notification had caught up to us at last. We heard no more about it so it was evidently closed up. Nov 19

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K. Amerman 1966 Sand - Johnston January 17. Departed Honolulu 0500 via M475 N-23. Arrived Johnston 1100. Chicked at Terminal, no one knew anything about bird shipment except that there definitely was no flight Wednesday or Thursday, huggcd my gear to the boat dock by hand and arrived on Sand about 1230. Mage knew nothing of shipment. Called George Sung in N.Y.N shipping; he said we could put birds on flight tomorrow. We went to J.I. on 430 boat, got 30 cartons (albatross rig?), absorbent material and unmarked cardboard bottoms; 10 liners. Returned to Sand on 730 boat. Began catching birds about 10 P.M. after assembling a few boxes. Catching went well so we made up the rest. Finished catching & boxing about 0100, labeled them, punched air holes and got through about 230. We ran out of tape after doing all the bottoms, just folded the tops together. Caught a total of 58, 2 per box. The last few took us through the entire colony, all birds in air. About 20 eggs; one new chick on bunker by inlet. Males were much more numerous than females. Tried to call Dr. Ely about 2000 before beginning our labors. Honolulu operator and Pearl Harbor operator got recordings signifying non- working party no. when they dialed 39103. So far it has not proved an auspicious start. K. Amerman 1966 Sand - Johnston January 18. Up at 0715, nothing to do but watch the morning's proceedings until about 0815. Birds taken to Johnston by 0900. Warehouse people most cooperative; gave us tape for the tops of the cartons though they might have been shipped just folded. All birds were alive yet. No banded ones had been taken. Returned to Sand on 1100 boat. Rested until about 1400 after lunch. Then to colony to pick up guy wire casualties and autopsy. Casualties centralized in area C, southern 1/3 of areas B+D (Crop. alms south shore) and western side of area E. No Scotties examined had brood patches. Males had testes averaging about 11 for left, 6 for right; females' ovaries about 12x5, ova 2-3. Sex ratio nearly 1:1. Estimate 150+ total collected; 24 autopsied; 15 bands recovered. Frigates did not seem much disturbed by last night's raid. Males are definitely more numerous, actively courting. Entire nesting colony has shifted from hill to south shore rocks except for a few on the inlet. Perhaps this was the original site and was disturbed by Coast Guard activities before we arrived. One Red-foot beginning a nest, on the north shore site. No Brown's nesting. Some Noddies with 2-3 on peninsula and east shore. Saw 11 Fairy Terns on Johnston yesterday.

R. G. Newman 1966 Sand-Johnston January 19 We collected Sooties and autopsied in The morning. Total of 65 dead or badly injured, plus 2 Common Noddies. Autopsied 13, none with blood patches, 3 molting (2 at least) each. One tail feather each. Found one Blue-faced Booby on guywire base #7. With the exception of 2 imm-5A at 1900, no Browns even sitting on the hill in morning or evening. Afternoon spent on task work. Checked the other end and collected Belizees 1900. Banded from 2030-0030, total of 400+ first hundred checked for blood patches (0) and molt (2 at 1 outer reticul). No Graybacks nesting yet. They are on the islet and pier and a few were on the rocks above The pier after dark. Returned me Hawaiian Noddy while banding. Total of 7 Blue-faced on #7 1900. About 150 adult frigate in nesting colony, many immatures sitting around periphery. Sooties begin to mass offshore about 1600. They form two swirls, one off north side, other off south. They do not come in over island until about 1900, funneling in from west but not flying much over the causeway except for streaming across it earlier. First birds alighting about 1915, low in area D about 1/3 the way from the road. There seem to be Two Groups of birds, some swirling fairly close + streaming back & forth over island; others are R. G. Newman 1966 Sand-Johnston January 19 far out and in greater numbers, apparently do not come in to land as early as the former group. Perhaps latter are the first arrivals, which now form a cohesive unit after perhaps having built up to a number which could trigger a new phase of behavior. There was no moon while we were out and the birds seemed to be holding rather well. Also, they are down over a large area, including area 13 and area D between roads shore. January 20 Same routine as yesterday. Only 3-4 Blue-faced present on #6 guywire base in A.M. Banding 2030-0015, Total 500 Sooties. We worked the east side of the Xmitter building, found the birds much more edgy than on south; finished on South. Saw two Sooties standing on dead ones, either outbacking or attempting copulation. January 21 Hourly counts on Sooties & Frigates today. Summary: Redfots decrease sharply right around sunrise, remain fairly constant thereafter until evening influx between 5-7, though much shifting around was noticed from about 4 P.M., Browns concentrated on hill until about 8, then drop off until 1200, then remain steady until 1500, mainly on guywire bases & pilings; increase again between 4-5 P.M., coming back to the hill until 6, then moving back out to platforms & bases, almost exclusively immatures in colony site during the day. Some bill-fencing noted in 9 P.M.

Y. Amerman 1966 Sand. Johnston Jan 21 (crnt) Blue faced Booby - 4 on #6 at start, 2 most 8 day after; a third appeared about 1600, Sat on slate for a period, Then moved to rocks among frisate, for 1/2 hour. All active around 1600, jumping off into water, flying short distances. Great Frigate - Similar to Red feet: decrease from ampic to H, then incito. Then constant until 4-5, increase again. Colony about constant all day. Immatures sit in two groups; at E edge of colony and between two segments of it. Witnessed two copulations (or attempts), much courtship. Sometimes, evidently, when the pair bond has been established, when The partner alights beside the other They fence bills briefly and shake heads mutually. This also occurs when F brings nest material. Female accepts, places, them may fly off leaving male to finish incorporating it into the nest; several males busy with nest while females gone. Saw two adult & frisates land among 7 immatures on hill 1540. One & fed two chicks, The young going inside her bill to get the food; evidently not a whole fish regurgitated; both bills level, so food, if liquid, still wasn't "poured" into young. Grayback Tern - 0800 0900 1100 1300-1820 1900: 175 175 40 104 Dick found first egg today, 7 on pier + 1 on islet. 500 Sooties banded. Y. Amerman 1966 Sand - Johnston January 22 Sooty Tern mortality only about 1/2 what it has been previous days. Perhaps This was due to lighter winds last night, or fewer birds being present? Checked pier, one new Gray back egg (total 8). Surveyed Johnston between 1700-1900. Found 2 new Tropic bird nests with eggs plus the older one. No other birds seen flying. No Fairy Terns seen. Only 6 plovers, 20 Turnstone, 2 Rattles and one Sanderling seen. Banded 100 Sooty Terns, checking for molt & brood patches. Three of mine were molting around 11-14th secondaries only. No brood patches get anywhere on island. Worked returns after this - they were much scarcer than last night. The numbers already banded is remarkably low, from observation. January 23 The first Christmas Islands appeared - a pair sitting by the large slab on the east shore at the base of the peninsula. Returned one. (1300). One present at night? on slope. Gray backs beginning to lay on west edge of peninsula near tip - 3 eggs, one broken. Eggs on pier now total 13 3 + 1 on ischo by pier. One of the two Common Noddy eggs on The peninsula hatched. Total of 500 Sooties banded. January 24 Total of 35 Sooties collected from papyrines. Red footed Booby nest on north shore has disappeared. Probably 100-150 Common Noddies nesting on peninsula and grass along east side - 17 banded.